Zack Wheeler has been diagnosed with venous thoracic outlet syndrome, with thoracic outlet decompression surgery recommended, the Phillies announced on Saturday afternoon. The Phillies added that the timeline for that procedure is generally 6-8 months.
For Wheeler, the 2025 season is over. Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski confirmed as much to the media minutes after the announcement was made, speaking alongside Head Athletic Trainer Paul Buchheit. Dombrowski said there is every expectation that Wheeler will return to pitching after his recovery.
Dombrowski – and, moments later, Phillies manager Rob Thomson – expressed disappointment for Wheeler but made clear they believe the team still has more than enough to win a World Series.
“Of course it’s never good to lose a Zack Wheeler, your number one pitcher,” Dombrowski said. “I think we have starting pitching depth that’s capable of pitching well for us, pitching well in the postseason. Again, you’re never going to replace an individual like that.”
Thomson, meanwhile, said he has been operating as if Wheeler would not return in 2025 since the discovery of a blood clot landed the right-hander on the injured list last Saturday.
Wheeler’s last few starts were riddled with uncharacteristic struggles with command – possibly caused by ongoing soreness in the same right shoulder area where he needed surgery. Buchheit was asked if Wheeler’s prior shoulder discomfort was tied to this far more serious situation.
“He wasn’t exhibiting any of the symptoms that ultimately drove us to get Washington Nationals doctors involved in evaluating,” Buchheit said. “…We do think that they were independent, and typically these things kind of have a cluster of symptoms, symptom patterns. He wasn’t exhibiting any of those until we had him evaluated [in Washington D.C.].”
Buchheit said that Wheeler experiencing “heaviness” was what prompted the additional tests, which revealed the results leading to first a procedure on Monday to remove the blood clot in his right upper extremity and in the coming weeks, the thoracic outlet decompression surgery.
While the daunting timeline rules out Wheeler for the remainder of 2025 and could jeopardize his ability to be available for Opening Day 2026 – Dombrowski was not yet ready to speculate about the latter issue – Buchheit said the team caught this early, which will be in Wheeler’s favor.
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