Marlins rough up Zack Wheeler on the way to an 11-3 rout

MIAMI — In his first start of the season against the Mets, right-hander Zack Wheeler struggled in the first inning but bounced back. In his start against the Marlins on Sunday, he struggled through the first three innings and never bounced back, allowing seven earned runs — the most he has ever given up as a Phillie — eight hits and three walks. Wheeler struck out three hitters in the Phillies’ 11-3 loss to Miami, and his fastball velocity was down a few ticks.

Wheeler is coming off an atypical spring training, in which he never faced MLB hitters in a game situation, but that delayed ramp-up period wasn’t reflected in his start against the Mets on April 12. In that start, he hit two batters in the first inning, then cruised until the fifth, when he allowed a home run to Brandon Nimmo. Wheeler was hitting 97 and 96 mph in that start. His highest velocity of the day on Sunday was 95.7 mph.

“It wasn’t very good,” Wheeler said after the game. “Command wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t terrible. The velo was down a little bit. When the velo goes down a little bit, you’ve got to pitch different. You can’t sneak stuff past guys like I’m used to, and I feel like that was how I was pitching. Hopefully that’ll come as I get stronger and get my feet under me. I’ve just got to figure out how to pitch with that velo for right now, until it comes.”

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Wheeler said before his first start that he was not concerned about the fact that he hadn’t faced live MLB-caliber hitting in spring training, and said on Sunday that it could have contributed to the drop in velocity. Wheeler experienced shoulder soreness this offseason, which was part of the reason he was behind in his ramp-up (he also got the flu during spring training), but said throughout spring training that he felt fine. He said the same thing on Sunday.

“Hopefully that’s what it is,” he said of his drop in velocity. “You work velocity up slowly, and it kind of comes as you go. I think this would have been my fourth or fifth start [of the spring]. Going along the lines of spring ... I hate saying that, because I feel like I’m making an excuse, but I’ve just got to figure out how to pitch with what I have right now, and give the team a chance to win.”

The Phillies lost three of four in Miami as their record dropped to 4-6.

Perhaps the two lone bright spots in their loss on Sunday were that Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber appear to be heating up again. The 2021 NL MVP went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a solo home run on Sunday, all while batting in a spot he hasn’t traditionally excelled in (the two-hole) and in a role he is still getting used to (DH). Harper has recorded at least one hit in five of his last six games.

Schwarber, who entered the game batting .094, went 2-for-4 with a solo home run on Sunday, a shot that left his bat at 104.4 mph and traveled 392 feet. Besides those two, the Phillies offense was unable to capitalize on the momentum they’d built on Saturday night, when they scored 10 runs and collected 11 hits with five walks. On Sunday, they combined for eight hits and three runs with two walks.

“Just inconsistency with certain guys,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said of the team’s overall performance lately. “We haven’t been consistent offensively yet. That will get going as time goes on here. You get Bryce going today, J.T.’s at-bats at the end were different, he made a little adjustment. But right now there’s some inconsistency in our play, and that’s kind of biting us.”

In the bottom of the seventh, infielder Alec Bohm entered the game at third base for the first time since April 11, when he committed three errors in a game against the Mets. There were no balls hit to Bohm on Sunday, but Girardi hinted that Bohm would make the start at third base on Monday night in Denver.