One veteran hurler appears to be coming into the home stretch of his MLB career.
Matt Gelb of The Athletic wrote a lengthy feature this week on Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler. In the feature, Gelb revealed that Wheeler plans to retire after the expiration of his current contract in 2027.
“Wheeler is unequivocal: When this $126 million contract expires at the end of the 2027 season, he is done with baseball,” Gelb wrote. “He has four kids at home who need a dad. He stares whenever anyone questions that.”
You can read Gelb’s full article on Wheeler here.
The righty Wheeler turned 35 years old last month and will be 37 years old upon the conclusion of his contract. A two-time MLB All-Star as well as the NL strikeouts leader in the 2021 season with 247, Wheeler is still very much at the top of his game. In fact, Wheeler’s 2024 season was so dominant that he even cost Chris Sale a unanimous NL Cy Young Award victory.
Through 13 starts so far this year, Wheeler has gone 6-2 with a 2.85 ERA, a 0.90 WHIP, and 101 strikeouts over 81.0 total innings pitched. That makes for the best K/9 mark (11.1) of Wheeler’s entire 11-year MLB career.
Still, Wheeler has had his fair share of injuries in the past, including a 2015 Tommy John surgery that kept him out of action for over two full years. After the 2027 season, the wear-and-tear on Wheeler’s body might be too great for him to continue his career (and be away from his children) for any longer.
