Zack Wheeler

Zack Wheeler
Wheeler with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2022
Philadelphia Phillies – No. 45
Starting pitcher
Born: (1990-05-30) May 30, 1990 (age 34) Smyrna, Georgia, U.S.
Bats: Left Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 18, 2013, for the New York Mets
MLB statistics (through July 9, 2024)
Win–loss record	97–67
Earned run average	3.39
Strikeouts	1,527
Teams
New York Mets (2013–2014, 2017–2019) Philadelphia Phillies (2020–present)
Career highlights and awards
2× All-Star (2021, 2024) All-MLB Second Team (2021) Gold Glove Award (2023) NL strikeout leader (2021)

Zachary Harrison Wheeler^[1] (born May 30, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Mets.

Wheeler was born to a baseball-playing family in Smyrna, Georgia, but moved to Dallas, Georgia, shortly before the start of high school. There, he pitched for East Paulding High School, leading the team to a state playoff appearance in 2009 and pitching a no-hitter against Mill Creek High School. The San Francisco Giants selected Wheeler sixth overall in the 2009 MLB Draft, and he elected to sign with the team rather than honor his previous college baseball commitment for Kennesaw State. Wheeler played for the Giants' minor league teams in 2010 and 2011 before he was traded to the Mets in July 2011.

Wheeler then rose through the Mets' farm system, making his major league debut in 2013. Wheeler's development came to a sudden halt after he tore his ulnar collateral ligament during spring training in 2015. He underwent Tommy John surgery for the injury, and was expected to return during the 2016 season, but a series of setbacks during his rehabilitation kept Wheeler from returning to the mound until 2017.

Following a 2017 season in which he was limited by injury, Wheeler in 2018 had a career-high number of strikeouts and innings pitched. He became a free agent at the end of the 2019 season and signed a five-year deal with the Phillies in December 2019. Wheeler missed part of the shortened 2020 season with a fingernail injury, but at the start of 2021 became the third pitcher in franchise history to strike out 10 or more batters in three consecutive starts.