PHILADELPHIA \u2014 The sky fell on Citizens Bank Park Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t torrential rain or a thunderstorm or summer hail. The sky literally fell.<\/p>\n
Never mind that the Phillies rallied past the Marlins 6-4 for their fifth consecutive win \u2014 a modest yet important streak they haven\u2019t achieved since mid-May \u2014 while clinching their second straight series victory. And never mind that 39,237 fans were on premises to witness it and erupted in frenzied cheers.<\/p>\n
Well, maybe the sky didn\u2019t literally fall. (What is the definition of \u201cliterally\u201d nowadays?) But Phillies right-handed ace Zack Wheeler gave up two runs and lasted just five innings! And even though he struck out seven, he gave up four walks!<\/p>\n
Sure, it would be considered a solid outing for most pitchers. But, but, but\u2026 it was Wheeler\u2019s fifth straight start of less than six innings. And he\u2019s 0-3 in his last six starts with a 5.60 ERA. And, and, and\u2026 his overall ERA ballooned all the way up to 2.92. (Yes, 2.92 \u2014 the horror!)<\/p>\n
Plus, his record has flatlined at 10-4!<\/p>\n
Many townspeople are in a panic. Radio call lines are blowing up and all the socials are melting down. In Philly fans\u2019 endless quest for misery, lots of folks are questioning, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with Wheeler?\u201d<\/p>\n
They just can\u2019t figure it out.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the answer, just between friends:<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s right. Nothing.<\/p>\n
Nothing is wrong with Zack Wheeler.<\/p>\n
\u201cZack\u2019s not one of the guys I worry about, if that\u2019s what you\u2019re asking,\u201d manager Don Mattingly said postgame. \u201cHe\u2019s been Zack Wheeler for a long time. The stuff is still good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Set aside the blood-clot surgery and thoracic outlet surgery Wheeler underwent last season \u2014 two major procedures from which he incredibly recovered to again pitch at an elite level. The man is 36 years old and it\u2019s the third week of August, the dog days. And his so-called slumping numbers are what most pitchers can only aspire to.<\/p>\n
A subpar outing for Wheeler still gives the Phillies an excellent chance to win the game, which is \u2014 literally \u2014 the primary job of every starting pitcher.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s another secret: When collating the numbers for Wheeler\u2019s last six outings (which will be tossed around in public until his next turn in the rotation), it should be mentioned that his Aug. 2 start in Baltimore was cut short after just two innings because of an extended rain delay at a dreary Camden Yards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I\u2019ve still got it,\u201d Wheeler said casually Tuesday. \u201cThere\u2019s no question about that.\u201d<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean he\u2019s satisfied with how things have been going lately. He has high standards. Going six starts without a personal win hasn\u2019t happened to him since 2018, when he was with the godawful Mets (a disgustingly horrible, foul-smelling organization), so he\u2019s definitely not happy. He likes to dominate and leave nothing to chance.<\/p>\n
\u201cStarted off well,\u201d Wheeler said of his Tuesday performance. \u201cI feel like it\u2019s been the past couple games \u2014 once I get into it a little deeper, it just doesn\u2019t work out for me. \u2026 That\u2019s the frustrating part, really. It\u2019s just not characteristic of me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fastball felt as good as it has in a really long time, actually. We made a little adjustment, just getting into my legs a little bit more, but it caused my offspeed (pitches) to be not good today. So the fastball was there, but offspeed was not there today.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve been walking too many guys. Just got to figure it all out together (with the coaching staff). Just a little rough stretch for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
If this is as rough as it gets for Wheeler, the Phillies will take it.<\/p>\n
![\"Philadelphia](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Stott-Long-Turner-Phillies-08182026.jpg\")
Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Bryson Stott, right, warms up alongside shortstop Trea Turner, left, and hitting coach Kevin Long, center, outside the batting cage before facing the Miami Marlins on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. (MediaNews Group)
\nStott\u2019s third-base prowess<\/p>\n
Bryson Stott has been on point at the plate for a couple months now. Even before the hits started falling, he was putting together good at-bats, long at-bats, often 12 or 14 pitches, or more. He was recognizing pitches that were out of the zone and letting them go by, and fouling off others that didn\u2019t suit him.<\/p>\n
Stott was looking like what the Phillies always thought he could be at the plate. And then the hits did start falling. He\u2019s up to slashing .266\/.344\/.418 with nine home runs. Not otherworldly numbers, to be sure, but if he continues this approach, that production will only improve.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t believe it?<\/p>\n
Over the last four weeks, Stott is slashing .325\/.462\/.506 with 15 RBIs. Over the past two weeks, his OPS is 1.030.<\/p>\n
Plus, he\u2019s been clutch. Including the 15 ribbies since mid-July, he\u2019s driven in 59 runs this season, which isn\u2019t bad for 418 at-bats that included a very slow April and May (.217 batting average). And the left-handed hitting Stott is actually hitting lefties (.311) better than righties (.253).<\/p>\n
But Tuesday against the Marlins, not only did Stott deliver a two-run single in the sixth that put the Phillies ahead \u2014 extending his hitting streak to 10 games and his on-base streak to 19 \u2014 he looked like Brooks Robinson at third base, like he\u2019d been playing there his entire life.<\/p>\n
To help seal the victory in the ninth, he made two spectacular plays \u2014 a pair of diving stabs behind the bag in which he bounced up and fired the ball across the diamond to Alec Bohm at first to beat the runners.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery impressed,\u201d Wheeler said of Stott at third. \u201cHe\u2019s a good athlete. He made unbelievable plays (when he was) at second. Just seeing his arm strength across the infield too. Both of those plays right there at the end were right in Bohm\u2019s chest.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the Phillies acquired Luis Arr\u00e1ez, who had worked himself into becoming an upper-tier second baseman and didn\u2019t want to keep changing positions (as he had done much of his career), Stott agreed to move to third with Bohm moving to first and Bryce Harper returning to right field. Stott, who came up as a shortstop, was in contention for a Gold Glove at second base.<\/p>\n
Mattingly on Arr\u00e1ez\u2019s future<\/p>\n
Speaking of the new second baseman, a certain reporter (whoever he is) asked Mattingly if the organization is looking at Arr\u00e1ez as purely a rental or if the Phillies are interested in signing him long-term (since they won\u2019t stop needing a player like him in the future). Here was the exchange:<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I have no idea what that thought process is,\u201d Mattingly said.<\/p>\n
\u2014Your son (Phillies general manager Preston Mattingly, assistant to president Dave Dombrowski) hasn\u2019t mentioned anything? (That same damn reporter again.)<\/p>\n
\u201cSon hasn\u2019t said anything,\u201d Mattingly responded with a laugh. \u201cHe said, \u2018Dad, we\u2019re going to\u2014\u2019 There\u2019s been none of that. \u2026 No secrets.\u201d<\/p>\n
First MLB victory<\/p>\n
Righty Alex McFarlane, 25, who has been shuffled up and down and throughout the Phillies\u2019 system and underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2023, got his first major league win. He threw the top of the sixth and gave up a hit, a walk and an unearned run. He\u2019s 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA and 1.62 WHIP in 4 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n
\u2014<\/p>\n
Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X and Threads at @the_defranc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA \u2014 The sky fell on Citizens Bank Park Tuesday night. It wasn\u2019t torrential rain or a thunderstorm…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":782801,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2397],"tags":[5,4,144,25,4216,40,185,4802],"class_list":["post-782800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia-phillies","tag-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-phillies","tag-philadelphiaphillies","tag-phillies","tag-sports","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117122024734353758","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782800","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=782800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/782800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/782801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=782800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=782800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=782800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}