Zack Wheeler spent last winter hearing the questions. He was 35 years old and recovering from surgery for venous thoracic outlet syndrome, a procedure that has ended the careers of more than a few pitchers. Would the Phillies ace ever be the same?
On Wednesday night in Las Vegas, Major League Baseball gave its official answer. Wheeler was named the 2026 National League Comeback Player of the Year at the MLB Awards. It capped a season in which he did more than simply return to the Phillies rotation. He reclaimed his place among the best starting pitchers in baseball.
The MLB award, voted on by the 30 MLB.com club beat reporters, completed a sweep for Wheeler. Two weeks earlier, his fellow players had already named him NL Comeback Player in the MLB Players Association’s annual Players Choice Awards. In that vote, Wheeler edged out two other pitchers, Miami’s Sandy Alcantara and Atlanta’s Martín Pérez.
Wheeler becomes just the second Phillie to win MLB’s Comeback Player of the Year award since it was created in 2005. The only other was closer Brad Lidge, who earned the honor during his perfect 2008 season, when he went 41-for-41 in save chances and recorded the final out of the World Series. Houston’s Yordan Alvarez took home the American League award.
How Wheeler’s 2025 Season Came to a Sudden Stop
To understand the size of this comeback, you have to go back to August 2025. Wheeler was in the middle of yet another Cy Young-caliber campaign, carrying a 2.71 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP through 24 starts. Then, after a mid-August start in Washington, doctors discovered a blood clot near his right shoulder.
The clot was removed, and Wheeler was soon diagnosed with venous thoracic outlet syndrome. With this condition, the space between the collarbone and the first rib becomes too tight and squeezes the vein leading to the arm. On September 23, he underwent thoracic outlet decompression surgery. The procedure involved removing his first rib, which Wheeler kept as a souvenir. The projected recovery time was six to eight months, which put the start of his 2026 season in doubt.
Of the three forms of thoracic outlet syndrome, the venous version is generally considered the most manageable. Still, pitchers have had mixed results coming back from any form of the surgery, and Wheeler’s age only added to the uncertainty.
The Road Back Ran Through Lehigh Valley
Wheeler opened 2026 on the injured list and built himself back up slowly. By spring training, he was throwing bullpen sessions and simulated games on the back fields in Clearwater. He then began a minor league rehab assignment with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs. He made five rehab starts before the Phillies decided he was ready.
His return could not have come at a better time. The Phillies stumbled badly out of the gate. Just days after Wheeler came back, the club fired manager Rob Thomson following a 9-18 start and turned the team over to Don Mattingly.
Wheeler made his season debut on April 25 in Atlanta. He allowed two runs over five innings and struck out six on 84 pitches. Afterward, he admitted the moment had weighed on him. “Just the anxiety of it,” he said, adding that it was “just the unknown.” Once it was behind him, he said, “I’m glad it’s done.”
What followed was a season that looked very much like the Wheeler of old. After his April 25 return, he never missed another start. He finished the year 14-5 with a 3.00 ERA, striking out 193 batters in 162 innings over 28 starts. His velocity stayed close to what he showed before the surgery.
The underlying numbers were just as impressive. Wheeler ranked eighth among qualified pitchers in strikeout-minus-walk percentage at 22.6 percent. Statcast’s pitching run value metric placed him among the 10 most valuable pitchers in the game. In July, opposing hitters were batting just .185 against him.
With Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo, Wheeler gave the Phillies one of the deepest front ends of any rotation in the National League. That trio was a big reason Philadelphia climbed out of its early hole and back into contention.
Saving the Season in September
Wheeler’s most important start may have been his last one of the regular season. The Phillies held a 6½-game lead for the third NL Wild Card spot on September 1. Then they went into a late-season tailspin that stirred uncomfortable memories of 1964. They needed a win against Tampa Bay on September 27, the final day of the season, just to secure a playoff berth.
Wheeler delivered. He held the Rays to one run over six innings on 97 pitches. That earned him his 14th win in a 7-3 victory that clinched the final NL Wild Card spot.
Because he pitched that Sunday, Wheeler could not start the opening games of the Wild Card Series in Atlanta. With the season on the line in Game 3, Mattingly started Aaron Nola, who lasted just 1⅔ innings. Wheeler came on in relief in the third inning and worked four innings. But a two-run homer by Ozzie Albies helped put the game away, and the Braves won 6-2 to end the Phillies’ season.
“That was probably the fun part of the season, was battling back with all these guys,” Wheeler said afterward. “Didn’t make it far as we wanted, obviously, but you got to take the good and bad from everything.”
Wheeler, now 36, is under contract through the 2027 season, and the Phillies enter a pivotal winter. The veteran core has made five straight playoff appearances, but each October exit has come earlier than the one before since the 2022 World Series. Changes are expected.
Sanchez, Luzardo, and Duran Come Close in Vegas
Wheeler’s award headlined a strong showing for Phillies pitchers at the MLB Awards. Sánchez finished second in the NL Cy Young voting for the second straight year, this time behind Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski. Luzardo placed fifth in the Cy Young race, and closer Jhoan Duran finished second for NL Reliever of the Year.
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