CLEARWATER, Fla. — Before Zack Wheeler’s first bullpen session in over six months on Thursday, he didn’t have any expectations.
He knew he was going to throw only fastballs. That’s fairly typical for a pitcher beginning a ramp-up, because spinning the ball and throwing breaking balls requires more torque and therefore puts more pressure on the elbow. Wheeler has spun the ball during flat ground sessions and hopes to mix his offspeed offerings in more of his next few bullpens.
But other than knowing every pitch would be a sinker or four-seam, he had no expectations.
“I didn’t know how to feel [Thursday] or know what I was going to feel like [Thursday],” Wheeler said. “But I felt good. I felt smooth, natural.”
This is uncharted territory, as recovering from the venous thoracic outlet surgery Wheeler underwent on Sept. 23 is not like a typical injury. And throughout the process, Wheeler has focused on going at his own pace, rather than comparing himself to other MLB pitchers who have had the same surgery.
Wheeler, who had a blood clot near his right shoulder removed, is not viewing it as a sigh of relief, but rather another box ticked off in a long list of them.
“The first one’s throwing a baseball,” he said, “then the next one is throwing long toss; usually that feels good, and then getting off the mound, getting into a game, facing live hitters is probably the next one. You just have those checkmarks along the way.”
He added that he was at about 80-85% of max effort on Thursday. The Phillies have declined to publicize the radar gun readings of Wheeler’s bullpen.
In a typical year, Wheeler doesn’t have a set number of times he throws before arriving at camp. Sometimes he’ll arrive not having touched a mound yet, and other times he’ll have had four or five sessions already.
“It just depends. There’s been years where I came in and I’m basically at where I’m at right now. It’s a little different, but at the same time, I’m not too far behind,” Wheeler said.
Manager Rob Thomson described Wheeler’s shoulder Thursday as “stronger than it’s ever been.” Wheeler said he agreed with that.
“I’ve been strengthening it all offseason. I’ve got to give a lot of credit to Paul [Buchheit], the head trainer,” Wheeler said. “He’s been working with me all offseason, a few times a week, and he’s helped me get my arm a lot stronger. You’ve just got to help protect the area as much as possible. Concentrate a lot on the shoulder strengthening and just overall body. Hopefully, that helps out for the long run.”
Wheeler doesn’t know if he will be able to get into a game before camp ends. The Phillies are aiming to get him on a regular build-up schedule, which is two days off between bullpen sessions. His next bullpen is planned for Sunday, where he will throw 25 pitches and start mixing in his splitter with the fastballs.
If he takes things slow, does he think there could be any benefit when October rolls around?
“If I’m ready to go, I’m ready to go,” Wheeler said. “I don’t think I have any problem when October comes, usually. So I don’t think this year is any different than any other year, trying to preserve-wise.”
For his teammates, it’s been great just to have Wheeler back around them this spring.
“Just having his presence around is always good,” fellow starter Jesús Luzardo said. “Having his advice, him just being around adds that level of veteran — that we already have, obviously, with [Aaron] Nola and [Taijuan Walker], and we have other guys — but it’s just another added voice in the back of our heads that we can bounce ideas off of.”
Added Nola: “I didn’t see his bullpen, but heard it went well. I’ve just seen him throwing out on the fields, and he looks normal. Looks like Wheels.”
Leave a Reply