Phillies Ace Makes Decision About When His Career Will Be Over

When looking around MLB and having conversations about who the best pitchers in the game are, Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler is at the forefront at most of those conversations.

Unfortunately for Phillies fans, the days of Wheeler taking the mound every fifth day are coming to an end sooner rather than later.

According to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, Wheeler is planning to step away from baseball after his current contract expires in 2027. Wheeler will be 37 at the end of the season, a reasonable age to step away from the game.

Wheeler has spent all 11 seasons of his career in the NL East, six with the Phillies and five with the New York Mets.

He’s been one of the most consistent pitchers in the league, making 30-plus starts in three of the last four seasons and five total in his career. He’s well on track to get that to number to six — and four of the last five seasons — at the end of this year.

“That’s the plan,” Wheeler confirmed, adding that it “doesn’t matter” if he continues to pitch at a dominant level.

Dominant is certainly the way to describe Wheeler’s season so far. He is 6-2 with a 2.85 ERA and 101 strikeouts across 13 starts and 82 innings pitched. If not for Paul Skenes, Wheeler may be considered the frontrunner for the National League Cy Young Award.

For some, though, stepping away from the game can be a difficult decision. But for Wheeler, it doesn’t seem like that will be the case.

“It’ll be easy to walk away,” he told Gelb.

Knowing that Wheeler only has somewhere around 75-80 starts left in his career, Philadelphia needs to do everything in its power to help him accomplish the ultimate goal of a World Series ring before he retires.

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