As camp rolls on, Wheeler’s COVID worries continue

PHILADELPHIA » Just as his new team is trying to make the best of the circumstances its league masters dealt it, Zack Wheeler went on the Citizens Bank Park mound Saturday and in a short period of time showed the essentially empty park why the Phillies didn’t hesitate to invest $118 million in him when free agency blew through last winter.

With a grin coursing through his pitches then, Wheeler showed how spending some pandemic shutdown weeks distantly working out with minor- and major-league players in Georgia had sharpened his stuff. Even to the unskilled observers Wheeler appeared almost in mid-season form ... which, of course, the veteran right-hander should be at this time of year .

What didn’t show through was the inner turmoil that continues to shadow Wheeler’s every step in this second training camp of 2020. His pregnant wife is only a few weeks shy of her due date. His current responsibility is to spend his days around other ballplayers, keeping his mask on, keeping his distance ... yet uncertain what the next few weeks or months will behold.

For a professional who has yet to throw a meaningful pitch for the team that gave him a 5-year, $118 million deal, Wheeler is more than merely conflicted. And for a man about to celebrate the birth of his first child with his wife, Dominique, the stress is all the more multiplied.

She is due around the same time that MLB is due to kick off its delayed season. For that Phillies, reportedly that will be July 24 at home against the Marlins.

“It’s a very difficult decision, something that is still playing with my head,” Wheeler said Sunday over a Zoom media session. “I have to be very careful here at the field, outside the field, wherever I go. The baby’s and Dominique’s health is what’s most important to me. So whatever I can do to make sure they’re safe, that’s the No. 1 goal for me, and baseball comes after that.

“Whatever I can do to protect myself here, and outside the stadium, that’s what I’ve got to do. Wash my hands, sanitize, mask it ... I’m trying to keep my distance from everybody. Like I said it’s still in the back of my head. This is a tough decision, for sure.”

He’s not alone. Mike Trout, the Vineland, N.J. native and largely acclaimed best player in baseball, and his wife Jessica are also expecting their first child. He’s at summer camp with the Angels, also expressing doubts about playing due to his wife’s condition. On Friday, Trout said, “My mindset is to play. I want to play. It’s just a tough situation. I’ve got to play it by ear. You never know what can happen tomorrow or the next day, if there’s an outbreak.”

Hence, the dilemma facing Wheeler and so many other players who have expressed their reservations and concerns about playing what’s left of this shattered baseball season.

“I think (Wheeler’s) concerned, and I think we’re all concerned,” Phils manager Joe Girardi said Sunday. “Maybe all the players wouldn’t necessarily say it and I think there’s different levels of concern for different reasons. His level of concern is fairly high, because he has a wife and they’re expecting their first child. Whether it was his first or second or third, it wouldn’t really matter.

“We’ve all went into this (like) ‘OK, I’m going to be really careful.’ I mean, I have concerns. I have a wife and three kids and I’m going to be really, really careful. So we’re going to go day by day to see how this goes. I don’t think any of us know.”

To Wheeler, however, what’s going on around him with the question of opting out or staying in really doesn’t impact him. The current absence of Phillies’ top starter Aaron Nola – for obvious reasons that can’t be discussed – has to have added an extra layer of pressure on him, but matters little in the end.

“I’m just worried about myself, to be honest,” Wheeler said. “I’m always wearing my mask. I wash my hands before and after I eat, when I touch baseballs, when I touch a door, I’m washing my hands or sanitizing. I’m not touching my face ... you know all this stuff by now. But whatever I can do to keep my family safe, that’s what I’m going to do.

“It’s a difficult time ... people may have certain family members who are at risk that they have to watch out for. Like I said, I can only watch out for myself. If I worry about myself and keep my family safe, then surely I’m helping somebody else’s family stay safe because I’m taking those measures myself.”

Meanwhile, it is left to Girardi and staff to deal with baseball measures, not knowing if Nola or Wheeler will even be available when the team commences a season with no easily seen ending.