Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Masterpiece hints that Phils can ace their tests
PHILADELPHIA » With every offseason discussion of the 2021 Phillies, there was an immediate disclaimer.
With every hint of optimism, there was a warning.
With every mention of a strong offense, an improved defense and a professional bullpen, there was a virtual wave of dismissal.
What would it all matter, the counter-argument would rage, in that division?
How could the Phillies compete with the Nationals’ pitching, or the Mets’ arms, or with throwers Atlanta generally unloads? How? Zack Wheeler heard it, every syllable. He heard the skeptics and the snickers and the landslides of predicted doom. And he kept thinking one thing: Are they talking about the Phillies? And if so, didn’t that make a rotation with Aaron Nola and Zach Eflin and himself at the top while supplemented with Matt Moore and Chase Anderson underrated?
“I think so,” Wheeler would say Saturday, after a legendary effort in a 4-0 victory over the Braves. “We have five starting pitchers who are awesome, who are great, that have track records also. I mean, everybody talks about everybody else, but I think we have a solid starting staff, one through five. And it’s going to be hard to beat.”
The Phillies were hard to beat in their opener when Nola pitched beautifully into the seventh, striking out six in a 3-2, 10-inning victory. By Saturday, Wheeler appeared to make it impossible for them to lose. With command of his slider, his ability to magically change speeds, then, just when the Braves were overwhelmed enough, his determination to torment them with 97 mph heat, Wheeler did plenty to contribute to the victory. Where his performance turned memorable, and close to historic, was when he came to the plate with two out and two on in the fifth.
“Watch this,” former Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., a coach in New York when Wheeler was with the Mets and more recently a broadcaster, half-whispered to anyone within press box ear shot. “This guy can rake. I’m telling you. Watch.”
Charlie Morton, himself pitching to his impressive career specs, had fanned Wheeler earlier. But when the veteran righthander offered a first-pitch fast ball, Wheeler hammered it over second base for the only RBI the Phillies would need. Then, in the sixth, again with two out, Wheeler would club a ball into left, driving in his second run. “Told you,” Amaro said. Since the abbreviated 2020 season was played with a universal DH, Wheeler hadn’t faced live pitching since 2019. But he hit .212 for the Mets that year, is a .150 career hitter, and, as Rhys Hoskins would recall, once beat the Phillies with a home run.
“You pay attention to the game situation, and you take pride in hitting,” Wheeler said. “So when you are going up there, you might as well try.”
Wheeler tried at the plate and dominated on the mound, allowing one hit, that on a second-inning Travis d’Arnaud grounder. He pitched seven innings, could have gone longer, struck out 10, walked none and subdued the final 17 Braves he faced.
Only Wheeler, Jim Bunning, Curt Simmons and Roy Halladay have pitched at least seven innings, struck out double figures, walked none and allowed no more than one hit for the Phillies since 1901. Bunning and Halladay did so in perfect games.
“He took 18 months off from hitting, and the first game he gets a couple of knocks,” said Hoskins, who drove in the other two runs. “It’s hard to beat a guy like that on the mound if he is also beating you at the plate.”
The Phillies will beat plenty of teams at the plate. But they only needed seven total runs to get off to a 2-0 start in a division where two wins at any time can prove valuable. That’s because Nola was good, Wheeler was better and the bullpen has yet to allow a run. Saturday, Archie Bradley and Hector Neris each provided a scoreless inning.
“I hope these guys keep going out and pitching extremely well,” Joe Girardi said. “The better you pitch, the more you are going to be recognized.”
The Nationals, with Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin, are recognized.
The Mets, with Jacob deGrom, are recognized.
The Braves, industry leaders in pitching development for decades, are recognized. The Phillies? Why not? Sunday, it will be Eflin, who has star potential, facing Ian Anderson, a late Rookie of the Year contender last season.
“It’s a friendly competition, right?” Wheeler said. “You go out there and see a guy pitch very well, and you try to go out there and beat it. And I hope Eflin goes out there and beats me. That’s what makes starting staffs great.”
Nola, second runner-up for the Cy Young Award in 2018, will make $12.5 million this year. Wheeler, a little parting gift from Matt Klentak, is on a $118,000,000 five-year free-agent contract. So it’s not an upset that they would have the ability to smother a good Braves lineup for 14-plus innings.
It’s just that it shouldn’t be surprising, either, if they keep it up, even in a division where it was widely assumed they would be overwhelmed.