{"id":683217,"date":"2026-04-26T10:36:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T10:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/683217\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T10:36:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T10:36:19","slug":"phillies-ace-zack-wheeler-returns-strong-in-2026-debut-vs-braves-after-surgery-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/683217\/","title":{"rendered":"Phillies ace Zack Wheeler returns strong in 2026 debut vs Braves after surgery | Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 The Philadelphia Phillies had two things to celebrate Saturday \u2014 ace Zack Wheeler threw five strong innings in his season debut and they snapped their 10-game losing streak with an 8-5 10-inning win<\/a> over the Braves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everybody\u2019s everybody\u2019s happy, and everybody\u2019s energized,\u201d Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. \u201cI\u2019m sure they can\u2019t wait for tomorrow to get after it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

kAm(9:=6 D?2AA:?8 E96 =@D:?8 DEC62< H2D <6J[ E96 >@C6 :>A@CE2?E 56G6=@A>6?E H2D (966=6CVD A6C7@C>2?46] w6 A:E4965 7@C E96 7:CDE E:>6 D:?46 k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@>^2CE:4=6^A9:==:6D\\?2E:@?2=D\\D4@C6\\fddd4dfh26_ba4dc2fcc666`4332fchcQmpF8] `d 282:?DE E96 }2E:@?2=Dk^2m] (966=6C 925 DFC86CJ \ud83d\ude15 $6AE6>36C 27E6C k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@>^2CE:4=6^A9:==:6D\\K24<\\H966=6C\\c4__7334g4`e2h27ec6hgb67_5334gdeQm2 3=@@5 4=@Ek^2m H2D 5:D4@G6C65 \ud83d\ude15 9:D C:89E D9@F=56C 2?5 96 k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@>^2CE:4=6^A9:==:6D\\H966=6C\\3=@@5\\4=@E\\bd2cdh_gag`a2_c5_e2f57`7bd`43hcbQm>:DD65 E96 C6DE @7 E96 D62D@?k^2m]k^Am<\/p>\n

kAm(966=6C 82G6 FA EH@ CF?D[ DECF4< @FE D:I 2?5 2==@H65 E9C66 9:ED 2?5 E9C66 H2=<\/p>\n

kAm\u201c*@F E9:?< 23@FE E9:D >@>6?E[\u201d (966=6C D2:5 @7 9:D C6EFC?] \u201c|6[ x ;FDE H2?E E@ 86E :E @G6C H:E9] yFDE <66A >@G:?8 @?[ ;FDE E96 2?I:6EJ A2CE @7 :E] $@[ J629[ x\u2019> 8=25 :E\u2019D 5@?6[ 6DA64:2==J H96? J@F 4@>6 @FE @7 E96 82>6 <:?5 @7[ J@F @H[ 86E E92E H6:89E @77 J@FC D9@F=56CD]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n

kAm(966=6C 4CF:D65 E9C@F89 9:D 7:CDE E9C66 :??:?8D[ 2==@H:?8 ;FDE @?6 9:E 2?5 @?6 H2=< \ud83d\ude15 bd A:E496D] qFE \ud83d\ude15 2 be\\A:E49 7@FCE9 :??:?8[ (966=6C 82G6 FA EH@ CF?D @? EH@ 9:ED 2?5 EH@ H2=D<: E@ 6?5 E96 :??:?8] w6 A:E4965 2 4=62? 7:7E9 :??:?8 2?5 H2D AF==65 7@C %2??6C q2?<\/p>\n

kAm\u201cx H2D 2 =:EE=6 E:C65 W27E6C E96 7@FCE9X[\u201d (966=6C D2:5] \u201cx H2D EC625:?8 H2E6C @FE E96C6[ D@ 8@E 2 =:EE=6 D64@?5 H:?5] %96 8FJD 82G6 >6 2 =@?8 :??:?8[ WE:>6 E@X 4@@= 5@H? 2?5 86E >J D64@?5 H:?5] $@ x H2D 23=6 E@ 8@ @FE E96C6 7@C E96 7:7E9]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n

kAm%96C6 H6C6 BF6DE:@?D C682C5:?8 (966=6CVD G6=@4:EJ AC:@C E@ $2EFC52J] w:D 72DE32== 5:5 ?@E C6249 hd >A9 \ud83d\ude15 2?J @7 9:D 7:G6 C6923 DE2CED 27E6C 96 2G6C2865 @G6C he >A9 =2DE D62D@?]k^Am<\/p>\n

kAm(966=6CVD G6=@4:EJ H2D ?@E 2? :DDF6 $2EFC52J] x? 9:D a_\\A:E49 7:CDE :??:?8[ (966=6C 6I466565 hd >A9 “ E:>6D]k^Am<\/p>\n

kAm\u201cx H@F=5 E9:?< E92E E96 25C6?2=:?6 H@F=5 <:4< \ud83d\ude15 @?46 96 86ED :?E@ @?6 @7 E96D6 82>6D[\u201d %9@>D6? D2:5] \u201cp?5 36:?8 pE=2?E2 2?5 9:D 9@>6E@H? 2?5 9@H 8@@5 E96J\u2019C6 A=2J:?8[ x E9:?< E96 25C6?2=:?6 5:5 <:4< :?] w6 C@D6 E@ E96 @442D:@?]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n

kAm(966=6C DECF4< @FE #@?2=5 p4F\u00f12 yC] EH:46 \u2014 @?46 H:E9 2 he]d >A9 72DE32== 2?5 E96 D64@?5 E:>6 H:E9 2? ga]g >A9 DH66A6C] w6 925 7:G6 H9:77D \ud83d\ude15 E9C66 9:E=6DD 2E\\32ED 282:?DE E96 qC2G6D DE2C]k^Am<\/p>\n

kAm(966=6C[ bd[ \ud83d\ude00 \ud83d\ude15 9:D D6G6?E9 D62D@? H:E9 E96 !9:==:6D] %96 pE=2?E2 ?2E:G6 92D 7:?:D965 CF??6C\\FA 7@C E96 rJ *@F?8 pH2C5 EH:46 2?5 92D 366? 2? p==\\$E2C E9C66 E:>6D 5FC:?8 9:D 7:CDE D:I D62D@?D \ud83d\ude15 !9:=256=A9:2 27E6C 4@>:?8 @G6C 7C@> E96 }6H *@C< |6ED] w6 25>:EE65 96 925 E96 !9:==:6D =@D:?8 DEC62< \ud83d\ude15 E96 324< @7 9:D >:?5 H96? AC6A2C:?8 7@C 9:D C6EFC? E@ E96 >@F?5]k^Am<\/p>\n

kAm\u201c~3G:@FD=J[ x H2?E E@ DE@A :E[\u201d 96 D2:5] \u201c%92E\u2019D 2=H2JD <:?5 @7 366? >J E9:?8 @G6C E96 J62CD[ \ud83d\ude00 :7 H6 2C6 \ud83d\ude15 2 =:EE=6 D=F>A[ x H2?E E@ 36 E96 DE@AA6C] p?5 6G6? :7 :E\u2019D EH@ 82>6D \ud83d\ude15 2 C@H[ x H2?E E@ 36 E92E 8FJ] $@[ J@F @H[ x =@G6 36:?8 \ud83d\ude15 E92E D:EF2E:@? 2?5 E2<6 AC:56 \ud83d\ude15 DE@AA:?8 :E]\u201dk^Am<\/p>\n

k9C ^m<\/p>\n

kAmp! |{qi k2 9C67lQ9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@>^9F3^>=3Qm9EEADi^^2A?6HD]4@>^9F3^>=3k^2mk^Am<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 The Philadelphia Phillies had two things to celebrate Saturday \u2014 ace Zack Wheeler threw five…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2288],"tags":[5438,152,2428,7762,2315,191,46,2452,2309,2336,2351,5,2460,2316,2323,2314,2317,3842,2443,2437,24115,5421,2313,2340,2430,2325,2453,2447,2451,19206,48,2457,2442,2417,2413,9288,36168,5414,2427,15927,4635,2333,2422,54,2445,1987,14279,2334,16798,2450,57,2444,2436,19,2310,5417,2328,2304,2318,5487,2308,2319,15000,3637,119,4,256,2305,2303,2421,2446,2424,2461,2449,10217,61,62,2434,35196,74368,2307,144,25,2466,2468,86429,36516,2454,2431,2343,15964,557,3841,4874,1933,2326,66,2327,2321,86430,9491,76496,185,3844,2467,2339,36523,2324,2433,2432,2438,2462,2418,2435,3843,35996,67,2459,2350,9681,2338,2311,2448,2312,71,1039,2429,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-683217","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-postseason","8":"tag-american-baseball-players","9":"tag-american-league","10":"tag-american-league-championship-series","11":"tag-at-bat","12":"tag-athletic-sports","13":"tag-atlanta","14":"tag-atlanta-braves","15":"tag-atlanta-braves-postseason","16":"tag-ball-and-bat-games","17":"tag-ball-games","18":"tag-base-on-balls","19":"tag-baseball","20":"tag-baseball-bats","21":"tag-baseball-competitions","22":"tag-baseball-events","23":"tag-baseball-finals","24":"tag-baseball-games","25":"tag-baseball-governing-bodies","26":"tag-baseball-in-st-louis","27":"tag-baseball-leagues","28":"tag-baseball-organizations","29":"tag-baseball-players","30":"tag-baseball-playoffs-and-champions","31":"tag-baseball-positions","32":"tag-baseball-statistics","33":"tag-baseball-teams","34":"tag-baseball-teams-in-st-louis","35":"tag-batting-baseball","36":"tag-batting-statistics","37":"tag-blood","38":"tag-boston-red-sox","39":"tag-boston-red-sox-postseason","40":"tag-boston-red-sox-seasons","41":"tag-champion-seasons-in-baseball","42":"tag-champion-seasons-in-major-league-baseball","43":"tag-cy-young-award","44":"tag-events-at-yankee-stadium","45":"tag-fastball","46":"tag-fenway-sports-group","47":"tag-former-time-warner-subsidiaries","48":"tag-grapefruit-league","49":"tag-grass-field-surfaces","50":"tag-hit-baseball","51":"tag-houston-astros","52":"tag-houston-astros-postseason","53":"tag-inning","54":"tag-innings-pitched","55":"tag-lawn-games","56":"tag-liberty-media","57":"tag-liberty-media-subsidiaries","58":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers","59":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers-postseason","60":"tag-los-angeles-dodgers-seasons","61":"tag-major-league-baseball","62":"tag-major-league-baseball-competitions","63":"tag-major-league-baseball-players","64":"tag-major-league-baseball-playoffs","65":"tag-major-league-baseball-postseason","66":"tag-major-league-baseball-seasons","67":"tag-major-league-baseball-spring-training","68":"tag-major-league-baseball-teams","69":"tag-major-league-baseball-teams-seasons","70":"tag-mauricio-dubn","71":"tag-men","72":"tag-mike-yastrzemski","73":"tag-mlb","74":"tag-mlb-baseball","75":"tag-mlb-playoffs","76":"tag-mlb-postseason","77":"tag-national-league-baseball","78":"tag-national-league-champion-seasons","79":"tag-national-league-championship-series","80":"tag-national-league-division-series","81":"tag-national-league-west-champion-seasons","82":"tag-new-york-city","83":"tag-new-york-mets","84":"tag-new-york-yankees","85":"tag-new-york-yankees-postseason","86":"tag-october-in-sports","87":"tag-organized-events-in-the-bronx","88":"tag-outdoor-sports","89":"tag-philadelphia","90":"tag-philadelphia-phillies","91":"tag-philadelphia-phillies-postseason","92":"tag-philadelphia-phillies-seasons","93":"tag-phillies-zack-wheeler-return-injury","94":"tag-pitching-baseball","95":"tag-pitching-statistics","96":"tag-playoffs","97":"tag-positions-team-sports","98":"tag-pride","99":"tag-professional-baseball","100":"tag-professional-sports-leagues","101":"tag-rob-thomson","102":"tag-ronald-acua-jr","103":"tag-run-baseball","104":"tag-san-francisco-giants","105":"tag-seasons-in-american-sport","106":"tag-seasons-in-baseball","107":"tag-second-wind","108":"tag-shoulder","109":"tag-slider-pitch","110":"tag-sports","111":"tag-sports-clubs-and-teams","112":"tag-sports-clubs-and-teams-in-st-louis","113":"tag-sports-competitions","114":"tag-sports-competitions-in-the-bronx","115":"tag-sports-events","116":"tag-sports-holding-companies-of-the-united-states","117":"tag-sports-in-the-bronx","118":"tag-sports-in-the-mid-atlantic-states","119":"tag-sports-leagues","120":"tag-sports-management-companies","121":"tag-sports-matches","122":"tag-sports-organizations","123":"tag-sports-organizations-of-the-united-states","124":"tag-st-louis-cardinals","125":"tag-st-louis-cardinals-postseason","126":"tag-strikeout","127":"tag-tanner-banks","128":"tag-team-activities","129":"tag-team-sports","130":"tag-throwing","131":"tag-turf-sports","132":"tag-washington-nationals","133":"tag-world-series","134":"tag-yankee-global-enterprises","135":"tag-zack-wheeler"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}