They would not have kept pitching Wheeler if he appeared to be hurt. So, he trudged through three stress-inducing innings. He was nowhere near his best, and that\u2019s the problem with these Phillies, who have hit a wall. Monday\u2019s surprising 8-7 loss to the Marlins was the latest nine-inning evidence they are constructed in a manner that affords their star players no leeway. They cannot have bad nights because the surrounding roster is not strong enough to overcome that.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to pick Zack up like that after all the time that he\u2019s picked us up in the last seven years,\u201d Realmuto said, \u201cthat would have been nice to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
They almost did. Then closer Jhoan Duran blew a save when he surrendered three runs, the first runs he\u2019s allowed in more than six weeks. He has to be perfect because the Phillies play so many close games; without Duran, they would not still occupy a playoff position.<\/p>\n
The Phillies have lost seven of 10 games since the All-Star break.<\/p>\n
![\"Philadelphia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26209000874223-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Zack Wheeler was nowhere near his best Monday night in Miami. (Lynne Sladky \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n
The wins and losses are secondary to Wheeler\u2019s health. After his shortest outing in more than four seasons that featured the second-lowest average velocity on his four-seam fastball, the clubhouse projected calmness.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust one of those games,\u201d said Wheeler, who allowed five runs in those three innings Monday. \u201cOne of these days. It just wasn\u2019t coming out. I don\u2019t know. No excuse, just a bad game.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he felt physically fine,\u201d Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. \u201cJust the ball wasn\u2019t coming out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mattingly said Wheeler, who flew ahead of the team Sunday because the Phillies did not arrive at their hotel until after 3 a.m. Monday, reported some nausea after his outing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, that didn\u2019t really affect me out there,\u201d Wheeler said. \u201cThe ball just wasn\u2019t coming out like I wanted to. My body wasn\u2019t moving like I wanted it to. I was trying to get through it. Some games I can. Just today, I couldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wheeler, who is less than a year removed from a dangerous blood clot that revealed thoracic outlet syndrome, has defied expectations after such a major injury. The Phillies have protected him at every step; letting him pitch through something Monday night would have run counter to that. But there will be skepticism about this being a radar blip until Wheeler appears in a game again \u2014 Sunday at Camden Yards in Baltimore.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of those days,\u201d Wheeler said. \u201cYou have a bad day every once in a while, I\u2019m sure, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Who doesn\u2019t? The problem is Wheeler is the highest-paid pitcher in the sport this season, and he\u2019s only around every fifth day. His bad days are magnified; that\u2019s just how it is. Especially when the Phillies have a formula that requires them to win almost every time he, Cristopher S\u00e1nchez or Jes\u00fas Luzardo pitches.<\/p>\n
Wheeler needed 34 pitches to survive the second inning. He hit 95 mph once all night. That\u2019s what he has averaged on his fastball all season. He said he felt great Sunday when he played catch; it was his fifth (regular) day. \u201cI wish I could have pitched yesterday,\u201d Wheeler said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I told some guys. Today it was the complete opposite.\u201d Wheeler likes pitching on regular rest. But when possible, the Phillies have continued to seek the extra day for all of their pitchers because they are too important to this thing.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia will do it again this week by deploying another bullpen game Friday that features some bulk innings from Brian Keller, a 32-year-old rookie.<\/p>\n
The arms who followed Wheeler posted zeroes until Duran. But everyone\u2019s velocity was down Monday night. The Phillies have leaned a considerable amount on their relievers. The bullpen games every fifth day have an increasing toll. The low-scoring offense has often put Mattingly in a position where he has to burn his better relievers to keep a game close. On Monday, he used all of his best guys and had nothing to show for it.<\/p>\n
It was a particular sting.<\/p>\n
The Phillies are not going to sell the farm in the next week, but they will trade some prospects. They are too invested in this. They have to feed this beast because it is all they have. There is no turning back, no matter how many red flags caution them otherwise.<\/p>\n
![\"Jhoan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/AP26209080973275-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Closer Jhoan Duran surrendered three runs Monday. (Lynne Sladky \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n
Trea Turner made another error, his seventh in 10 games. He took one of the more uncompetitive at-bats of the season in the fifth inning by flailing at pitches far out of the zone. Brandon Marsh went hitless in five at-bats. Gabriel Rincones Jr. continues to look overmatched in the majors.<\/p>\n
But Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm had big hits. So did Realmuto. Justin Crawford put them ahead with a two-out, two-strike single. The tired relievers did their jobs without their best velocities.<\/p>\n
And Bryce Harper, who homered in the first inning, reached base three times in a game for the first time in three weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Harp hits the homer to start the game, you\u2019re like, \u2018OK,\u2019\u201d Mattingly said. \u201cAnd you got Wheels. You\u2019re feeling pretty good. Obviously, that changed pretty quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harper has been in a prolonged slump. Kyle Schwarber has three homers and 36 strikeouts in his last 23 games. Marsh is down to a .787 OPS. For so long, they powered the Phillies, along with the three-headed rotation.<\/p>\n
They are showing some cracks. In baseball, it\u2019s impossible for a select few to carry an entire roster over six months. The top-heavy Phillies have tested that theory and, in late July, they have discovered its limits. They need help. A trade, sure. But, more than anything, the stars require support.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a weird game,\u201d Realmuto said, \u201cin that they got the two of our very best pitchers.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 As Zack Wheeler flung a 91 mph sinker, pitching coaches Caleb Cotham and Mark Lowy sat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":829169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,2365,85],"class_list":["post-829168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-philadelphia-phillies","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=829168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/829168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/829169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=829168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=829168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=829168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}