A rib in a closet? That’s a new one.
For Zack Wheeler, it’s also a sign he’s finally moving toward full health — something that’s felt far away since last summer.
Pitchers and catchers reported to Clearwater on Wednesday, and Wheeler was back in front of the media. He’s still early in his throwing progression after venous thoracic outlet decompression surgery, but the way he spoke made it sound less like a countdown and more like a process he’s learning to live with.
“It is encouraging,” Wheeler said of the reports about his offseason progress. “I’m sure there are speed bumps that you’re going to hit along the way, this with any surgery or recovery. So, you just take day by day things as they come and go.”
That’s where the rib comes in.
Wheeler explained that the procedure involved removing the first rib, and Paul Buchheit, the club’s head athletic trainer, preserved it for him.
“He did that for me and I just have it sitting at home.”
Where?
“In my closet,” Wheeler laughed.
The rib isn’t a novelty as much as it’s proof of what happened and what’s still ahead.
Philadelphia finished the 2025 regular season with 96 wins, and it’s easy now to forget that their ace, who was 10-4 with a 2.71 ERA in his first 24 starts, didn’t pitch in the final month and a half, including the postseason.
It’s also easy to forget how strange the injury was. Wheeler admitted as much.
“The blood clot thing is something that’s kind of rare and [you] don’t expect to have,” he said.
He credited the medical teams that helped get him to surgery and through the initial phase of recovery.
“The doctors took really good care of me,” Wheeler said. “I got to give credit to the doctors in DC… the [Washington] Nationals’ doctors… give credit to the doctors at Jefferson there in Philly and then… when I went to St. Louis to get it actually removed.”
Wheeler said the first week after surgery was “really tough” from a soreness standpoint, and that the grind since has been about rebuilding the basics.
“You battle the tightness and the soreness,” he said. “It’s just gotten better as I’ve worked with Paul… just getting the range of motion back and getting the strength back, slowly but surely.”
It’s great to see Zack Wheeler on the first day of pitchers and catchers reporting at Phillies Spring Training. He discusses how he’s progressing from his thoracic outlet decompression surgery in September.
So where does the progress stand?
“Now I feel pretty much normal,” Wheeler said.
Normal doesn’t mean ready. He’s behind his usual spring schedule in terms of throwing, but he’s not discouraged.
“Usually I would have been off the mound a few times by now,” Wheeler said. “Right now I’m back to 90 feet… I’m a little behind in the fact where I normally would be, but I’m on time where I’m supposed to be [in my recovery].”
That lines up with what Rob Thomson said earlier this week. The Phillies manager acknowledged Wheeler isn’t expected to be ready for Opening Day, but also indicated it shouldn’t be a long absence.
Wheeler’s take was more measured. He’s already accepted he’s missing Opening Day and sees “no need” in chasing the first possible date if it risks anything.
It’s a practical way of looking at it, but it also speaks to how the Phillies have to operate around him. The rotation picture looks different when Wheeler isn’t penciled in for the first turn through the schedule.
Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo will be asked to carry more early. Aaron Nola and Taijuan Walker are coming off down seasons, and top pitching prospect Andrew Painter will get every opportunity be the club’s fifth-starter job.
The new season is coming up, but the ache of missing the postseason hasn’t gone away for the three-time All-Star. However, he fondly remembers his introduction at Citizens Bank Park before Game 1 of the NLDS.
“It was pretty cool,” Wheeler said. “Those fans, they know baseball, they know sports… it was special for me and my family for sure.”
The right-hander also addressed one other point that will strengthen the entire staff: J.T. Realmuto is back.
“It’s very exciting to have him back,” Wheeler said. “Starting pitching group, relievers, and starters. He’s big for us… especially for me. So just having him back, having that comfort feeling back, it’s going to be nice.”
Even when asked whether he’s reached out to other pitchers who have dealt with thoracic outlet syndrome, Wheeler explained why he’s avoided that route.
“I feel like everybody goes through different injuries differently,” Wheeler said. “I don’t want to be like, ‘Oh, this guy felt this at a certain time,’ and that’s in my head… My body’s going to heal like it is.”
For now, the focus is on the small stuff: keep building strength, keep the mechanics clean, and keep stacking days without setbacks.
“Just getting the repetitive throwing,” Wheeler said, “just making sure everything is in time and in sync.”
And yes, he’s been doing plenty of it back home, too.
“It was cold,” Wheeler said of being in Philadelphia during the offseason. “It was snowy… but it was good. I was able to get to the field and do rehab and all that type of stuff.”
Wheeler kept it as honest as possible. His impact on the mound will help a Phillies team trying to answer its biggest questions in October, and the Georgia native is focused on being part of the solution.
“We’ve been chasing after a World Series over the past four or five years and we all want to get one,” Wheeler said. “So it’s my goal to get back and try to help us get one.”