Zack Wheeler is getting a couple extra days off this week. The Phillies announced Wednesday that his Friday start against the Rangers is now going to be a Sunday start.

“Wheeler came out of his last start a little sore – more sore than he normally is,” manager Rob Thomson told reporters. “We got an image done; it’s clean. We’re just going to give him an extra couple days.”

Thomson did everything possible to dispel any thoughts that Wheeler’s injury is of any concern. He repeatedly stressed that the MRI was clean and that the team did not consider skipping his spot in the rotation even though they could have done so because of an off day on Thursday. At one point though, Thomson did acknowledge that the team could push him back further, if needed.

“He’s fine, so if he’s ready to go Sunday… Obviously, we can back him up even more if we need to becaue we have the off-day,” said Thomson. Taijuan Walker could pitch Sunday and Ranger Suarez could go Monday without having to disrupt either pitcher’s schedule.

Wheeler’s last truly effective start came back on July 6 when he struck out 12 batters and threw a complete game against Cincinnati. Since then, the Cy Young Award candidate has made four starts and is 0-2 with a 4.94 ERA. His season ERA has moved from 2.17 to 2.64. Wheeler’s velocity has remained steady, but he appears to lack the ability to put extra velocity on pitches in key spots. In his last four starts Wheeler has thrown 13 pitches over 97 mph. Coming into those four games, Wheeler averaged 23 per outing in five straight outings.

The pain did not affect Wheeler during his previous start. It was only after the game that he felt the added soreness. In fact, he pushed Thomson to let him go out for the seventh inning even though he was at 95 pitches. That didn’t turn out well when Javier Baez hit a two-run home run.

“That was on me going back out there for the seventh. I kind of told him that I really wanted to, and we just have that respect for each other, so he let me,” said Wheeler after that outing. “At the end of the day, maybe I shouldn’t have, but I really did feel good being able to go back out there.”

Prior to Wednesday’s afternoon game – a 5-1 loss to Baltimore – Wheeler did some throwing in the outfield, which is his normal routine for between starts.