Phillies receive positive injury update on ace pitcher

Before being shut down for the remainder of the 2025 season with venous thoracic outlet syndrome, a medical condition that causes blood clots in the deep veins of the arms, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler was dealing like his typical Cy Young-esque self with a 10-5 record, a 2.71 earned run average, and 195 strikeouts, which led the majors at that point. 

Wheeler recently underwent surgery to alleviate the condition, and thankfully, some good news has come of it.

It doesn’t seem that Wheeler will be missing any portion of 2026 due to the operation or condition.

Wheeler Given Recovery Time of Six Months

Dean Donahue, the director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s thoracic outlet syndrome program, had some positive things to say about Wheeler’s condition, one that Merrill Kelly had also suffered from before and returned six months after the operation. 

“That’s just the expectation for all of us that take care of this,” Donahue said on the ace recovering fully, he said to The Athletic’s Charlotte Varnes. “It doesn’t mean it will happen. Obviously, it’s surgery and the human body, and people don’t always recover in a predictable manner. But, by far, the expectation is to be able to return to full function.”

Though his recovery path will likely be different to that of Kelly’s, six months would have him back in time for the 2026 MLB season, where he would likely be Philly’s Opening Day starter.