Phillies’ Zack Wheeler will make a rehab start Saturday, takes a huge step in return from surgery

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Bryce Harper, Aaron Nola, Jhoan Duran, José Alvarado, and Cristopher Sánchez could have been having lunch or warming up for the Phillies’ Grapefruit League finale on Monday. Instead, less than hour before the 12:05 p.m. game, they walked 300 yards to the minor-league facility to watch two guys throw about 40 meaningless pitches.

One guy threw 29 of them — and, on second thought, they weren’t at all meaningless. In fact, they might have been the most important 29 pitches thrown by any Phillie at spring training.

In his most aggressive session on his journey back from thoracic outlet syndrome, Zack Wheeler faced eight minor-league batters in two innings in a semi-simulated game at the minor-league facility. Reliever Orion Kerkering, coming back from a hamstring injury, pitched the half-inning in between, but he was the sideshow. Wheeler was the main attraction.

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Wheeler was sharp as he struck out four and allowed what might have been two hits, except there were no outfielders, only infielders. How sharp?

So sharp that the Phillies will open a 30-day rehab window Saturday, the first of at least four scheduled rehab appearances, when Wheeler starts at triple-A Lehigh Valley’s second home game at 4:35 p.m. in Allentown. He is scheduled to pitch three innings. His next start after that would likely come with the IronPigs in Durham, N.C., probably Thursday.

This track would land Wheeler back with the major-league team about two months ahead of a normal return from his surgery.

“Lot of strikes. Command was good,” said manager Rob Thomson. He said Wheeler’s velocity topped out around 94 mph, which is about where he would be in a normal spring training build-up.

One of the strikeouts came on an exceptionally nasty off-speed pitch that appeared to be a curveball.

Right? Maybe. Wheeler couldn’t remember.

“I’m the worst at that,” Wheeler said. “Other guys can tell you what they did three years ago.”

What Wheeler did one year ago was make his third All-Star team on his way to another top-10 finish in Cy Young Award voting — honors achieved despite starting just 24 games. Wheeler’s season ended in the middle of August, when doctors discovered a blood clot near his right shoulder, diagnosed him with TOS, and eventually removed a rib. He still went 10-5 with a 2.71 ERA and 195 strikeouts in 149⅔ innings, a career-high strikeout-per-nine rate of 11.7.

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Recovery from the condition and the surgery typically requires at least nine months, but Wheeler, now six months removed from surgery, appears to be on schedule to return in as few as seven months. He’s still about 10 pounds short of his fighting weight, which is 205 on his 6-foot-4 frame, but he has pitched as light as 185 in the past.

Wheeler, 35, said he threw his entire six-pitch arsenal and, while no numbers were immediately available, he appeared to be throwing at least as hard as he did in his last session. He threw 20 pitches in live batting practice Wednesday and hit 93 mph, about 3 mph slower than his normal four-seamer average.

As the second inning progressed, he left 93 mph behind.

“I was trying to throw harder in that second inning,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler will be in Philadelphia for opening-day ceremonies on Thursday and will stay with the Phillies between rehab starts.

Kerkering, meanwhile, faced four batters and struck out the last two. His first strikeout came on a vicious split-fingered fastball, which he added to his repertoire of fastball and sweeper.

Wheeler and Kerkering will open the season on the injured list, though Kerkering is expected to exit it much sooner than Wheeler. Kerkering will pitch again Wednesday here in Clearwater, then join Wheeler on the mound Saturday in Lehigh.

Until Monday, the Phillies had been coy about Wheeler’s schedule, but this has always been his best-case scenario.

“We mapped it out, and this was part of the plan,” Wheeler said. “It’s just good to check that box as we move through camp. So, successful spring.”