Zack Wheeler faced difficulties with his command as the Philadelphia Phillies lost 7-5 to the Detroit Tigers at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday. Wheeler, who is in contention for his first National League Cy Young Award, allowed three home runs in a game for the first time since July 2024. He finished with 10 strikeouts but gave up four runs (three earned) on nine hits over six-plus innings.
Detroit’s Tarik Skubal, who won last year’s American League Cy Young Award unanimously, held the Phillies scoreless through six innings before giving up an RBI double to J.T. Realmuto and a two-run homer to Nick Castellanos in the seventh. Despite this late surge by Philadelphia, it was not enough to overcome Detroit’s lead.
The matchup between Wheeler and Skubal drew attention after both pitchers struck out three batters each in the first inning. However, Wheeler surrendered solo home runs to Colt Keith and Kerry Carpenter in the third inning and a two-run shot to Javier Báez in the seventh.
“That’s why it’s so frustrating, because he’s not going to give up anything,” Wheeler said of facing Skubal. “You just want to go out there and match him, put up zeros. It was a battle, but I came up on the short end. He’s the best in the game.”
Over his past four starts, Wheeler’s ERA has increased from 2.17 to 2.64 as he has posted a 4.94 ERA during that stretch. His fastball velocity averaged 96 mph against Detroit—slightly below his season average—but he only threw four pitches above 97 mph.
“He touched 97 today and was pretty much 95, 96,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “So I don’t worry about that.”
In recent outings, only about 12% of Wheeler’s four-seam fastballs have exceeded 97 mph compared to nearly half earlier this season.
“Whatever comes out, comes out,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler attributed his struggles more to poor command than decreased velocity: “Fastball command was off, pulling a lot of stuff,” he said. “Sinker was probably the worst it’s ever been… Fastball command just hasn’t been there. Just got to get that back.”
Wheeler’s main competitor for NL Cy Young honors is Paul Skenes of Pittsburgh, who also struggled Saturday by allowing four earned runs over five-plus innings against Colorado but continues leading MLB with a lower ERA than Wheeler while trailing slightly in strikeouts.
Skubal’s rise highlights how unpredictable Cy Young races can be; he had never received votes before winning unanimously last year as a ninth-round draft pick in 2018.
Wheeler is expected to remain among top Cy Young candidates for Philadelphia again this year but says team success is most important: “Like I said last time, I just need to be better,” he stated. “I need to get my command back and, for whatever reason, I just haven’t had it. You go through those times throughout the season.”
Manager Thomson remains confident that Wheeler will recover soon: “Oh, I truly believe he’s going to come out of it,” Thomson said.
