Ask Carson Wentz and the 2017 Super Bowl-winning Eagles: The Phillies have hope even without Zack Wheeler

For Philadelphians, Dec. 10, 2017 is a day that will live in infamy. That was the day franchise quarterback Carson Wentz shredded his knee in a road win over the Rams, ending his year and thereby dooming the first-place Eagles’ season to insignificance and ruin.

Grown men cried.

» READ MORE: Even without Carson Wentz, Eagles still a Super Bowl contender | Marcus Hayes

That same feeling descended on Phillies Nation on Saturday. That was the day ace Zack Wheeler was found to have a blood clot near his sore right shoulder, a terrifying diagnosis that likely will end his season — his condition often means months of treatment — and thereby doom the first-place Phillies’ season to insignificance and ruin.

Please, don’t cry. Those tears might be wasted again.

Because, of course, the 2017 Eagles’ season was not doomed to insignificance and ruin. Nick Foles replaced Wentz, finished off that win, then — with Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson and Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham, Foles won all five remaining meaningful games en route to earning the MVP in Super Bowl LII.

It wasn’t just Wentz. Folks forget that Wentz might not have been the Eagles’ best player that season. That probably was Jason Peters, who’d shredded his knee almost two months before Wentz did. Peters graded out as the fourth-best tackle that season. Wentz, the MVP favorite when he went down, finished as the sixth-best quarterback. And they were just two of five front-line players who missed the Super Bowl.

The point, of course, is that Eagles GM Howie Roseman built the 2017 Eagles to absorb injuries and still win.

It was the job of Phillies president Dave Dombrowski to do the same. To this point, he has.

The Phillies are 18 games over .500, have a five-game lead in the NL East, have the second-best record in the National League and the fourth-best record in baseball despite losing their No. 2 starter and their No. 1 reliever for the past three months or so. Their best hitter missed 27 games with wrist and elbow injuries. Third baseman Alec Bohm, whose .280 average ranks second on the team, just missed a month with a broken rib.

Still, the Phillies won.

This is not meant to denigrate either Wentz or Wheeler. Both were magnificent when they were removed from action. Wheeler, in particular, has been even better in his three playoff runs with the Phils.

There’s no real argument: Wheeler has been the best athlete in Philadelphia since he got here. Wheeler not only is the best player on the 2025 Phillies, and not only has he been the best Phillie since he arrived in 2020, he has been the best pitcher in baseball since 2020, and he’s one of the two or three best pitchers in Phillies history, depending on how you feel about Robin Roberts.

Wheeler is awesome.

But Wheeler is not so important that this team, as comprised, cannot succeed in the playoffs. The Phillies are good. They’re streaky, and kind of slow, and they’re hard to watch on defense sometimes, but they win.

Wheeler has been integral to the winning, both this year and before.

His 2.71 ERA ranks ninth in baseball, and is a major reason why the Phillies rank third in the majors in starters’ ERA, at 3.49. However, if you subtract Wheeler, the Phillies would still rank eighth in the majors in starters’ ERA, at 3.79.

What’s more impressive, and thereby more concerning, is that Wheeler put up those numbers over 149 2/3 innings, which also ranks eighth in the majors. That’s why he’s been more valuable than teammate Bryce Harper, whose Hall of Fame credentials mirror Wheeler’s but whose durability pales by comparison.

» READ MORE: Phillies prepare for life without Zack Wheeler: ‘People have got to step up’

That said, entering the 2025 season, even Wheeler hadn’t been the most durable cornerstone Phillie since he arrived. That was Aaron Nola, whose 850 innings pitched from 2020-2024 led all of baseball and was 20 2/3 more innings than Wheeler, who was second. Nola’s 3.90 ERA also ranked 12th among the 22 pitchers who pitched at least 662 innings since 2020.

In fact, since 2017, his first full and fully healthy season, Nola’s 1,432 2/2 innings pitched were tops in baseball by 58 innings, or about nine starts.

Why does that matter?

Because Nola came off the 60-day IL on Sunday. He’d missed three months with rib and ankle issues.

Sure, he gave up six runs in 2 1/3 innings, and his fastball topped out at 92 mph, but, as one of the better pitchers in baseball over the last decade, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

After all, Dodgers stud Clayton Kershaw gave up five runs in four innings when he returned from knee and toe surgeries. He’s 7-2 with a 2.57 ERA in his 14 starts since.

About those Dodgers, et al …

The defending world champions are 15-20 since July 4 and they’ve been addled by injuries all year. The Cubs are 11-14 since July 20; the Phils took four of six games against the Cubs this year. The Padres are 14-6 in their last 20 games; the Phillies are 3-3 against the Padres this season. The Mets have lost 14 of 18, and the Phils are 2-4 against them this season. They play seven more times.

It’s not as if the Phillies are exactly formidable, with or without Wheeler. The billion-dollar offense disappears for days at a time. The bullpen has been a crap shoot all season. They have fizzled in the playoffs the past two years.

At the end of May they got swept at home by the Brewers, though Wheeler didn’t pitch in those three games. More recently, the Brewers had won 14 in a row before they lost in 10 innings Sunday in Cincinnati. In what might be an NLCS preview, the Phillies visit Milwaukee for three games in four days (weird, I know) beginning Sept. 1.

That is one of six remaining series against teams with winning records, beginning Monday night when they start a three-game series against the visiting Mariners. Not exactly a cruise down the stretch.

However, on Tuesday they can reinstate Alvarado.

Two weeks ago they traded for electric closer Jhoan “Durantula” Duran, who has converted all five of his save opportunities.

On Saturday, Andrew Painter, the No. 3 ranked prospect in all of triple A, gave up two earned runs in five innings for Lehigh Valley, where, coming off elbow surgery last year, he has struggled with command but has, at times, been overpowering. He almost assuredly will pitch for the Phillies before the season ends.

Kyle Schwarber is tied for the league lead with 43 home runs and is an MVP candidate having the best season of his career. Harper isn’t quite Harper, but he’s still the best postseason hitter of his generation. Catcher J.T. Realmuto, apparently alerted that this is a contract year for him, is fourth among catchers with a .271 average. Brandon Marsh is hitting .300 with an .815 OPS since returning from a hamstring injury in May. Even Bohm, whose latent power hasn’t presented itself much in his career, and Nick Castellanos, whose power largely has deserted him since 2023, hit homers Sunday in Washington.

Finally, there’s an argument to be made that Wheeler hasn’t even been the Phillies’ best pitcher this season. Wheeler might lead the majors with 195 strikeouts, but lefty Cristopher Sanchez’s 2.45 ERA is 0.26 runs better than Wheeler’s.

It’s ridiculous to say the Phillies’ chances for postseason success weren’t dealt a severe blow when word of Wheeler’s blood clots clouded the Phillies’ weekend.

But it’s just as ridiculous to say their chances for postseason success ended Saturday. That’s not the way team sports work.

Just ask Carson Wentz.