Zack Wheeler was at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Monday to have a thrombolysis procedure to remove a blood clot in his upper right arm. The procedure was done by Dr. Paul DiMuzio and was termed to be successful. The surgery came just a couple of days after Wheeler was placed on the IL because of the clot.

The Phillies have not announced any projected timeline and it is still unknown what the next steps in his recovery will be. A blood clot anywhere in the body can be life threatening if it were to move to the person’s heart or brain. Because of that manager Rob Thomson told reporters that for now, he’s not even thinking about Wheeler returning to the mound and is instead focusing on Wheeler and his family.

“A lot of people ask me about the pitching staff and the team, but right now, my thoughts are just about him. Like I said the other day, this isn’t like a hamstring or a calf. This is real. This is life,” said Thomson on Monday. “So my thoughts are constantly on him and his family. Hopefully everything works out – and so far, so good.”

The trip to the IL followed a stretch of rough outings where he posted a 4.54 ERA over six games. Problems started to show after his start on August 2 against the Tigers. Wheeler had extra soreness in his shoulder after the start and had his next start pushed back two days. Following that, the 35-year-old made two more starts but his velocity was down. Wheeler did report that the soreness after the game was normal, but he just couldn’t get his velocity.

Fortunately, Aaron Nola was just a day away from coming off the IL and was able to step into the rotation on Sunday for a start against Washington, which also did not go well. Recently, Cristopher Sanchez and Taijuan Walker have been the most effective starters for Philadelphia.