PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 01: Jean Segura #2 and Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies high five after defeating the Houston Astros 7-0 in Game Three of the 2022 World Series at Citizens Bank Park on November 01, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
Phillies have started extension talks with superstar starting pitcher
The Phillies have begun extension discussions with Zack Wheeler’s camp at Wasserman, the star righty told reporters, via Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Talks are in the early stages, and there’s no indication a deal is imminent.
Philadelphia has made no secret of its desire to retain Wheeler beyond the 2024 season. MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki wrote in December the Phils considered an extension a priority. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski went on record to confirm that last week.
Wheeler, who turns 34 in May, is entering the final season of a five-year free agent contract. The club’s $118M investment over the 2019-20 offseason has been one of the best free-agent acquisitions of the past few years. Wheeler has turned in a 3.06 ERA over his first four seasons in Philadelphia. He has appeared on Cy Young ballots in three of them, including a runner-up finish in 2021. Only Gerrit Cole, Sandy Alcántara and teammate Aaron Nola have thrown more innings since the start of 2020.
The former No. 6 overall pick didn’t show many signs of slowing down a year ago. Wheeler took a full slate of 32 starts and worked 192 innings. While his 3.61 ERA was his highest as a Phillie, that partially reflects a spike in offense around the league. Wheeler’s 26.9% strikeout rate matches his prior season’s output. He walked only 5% of opponents and finished 13th in MLB in innings. Wheeler induced swinging strikes on a career-best 13.3% of his offerings and averaged a robust 95.9 mph on his four-seam fastball.
Wheeler is under contract for $23.5M for the upcoming season. An extension would surely come with larger annual salaries for 2025 and beyond. Long-term extensions for pitchers covering their mid-30s are rare, as one might imagine. Over the past five seasons, the only starter to sign an extension covering at least three years at age 33 or older is Yu Darvish. Last February, the Padres inked Darvish to a surprising five-year, $90M pact covering his age 37-41 seasons.
