Zack Wheeler's stats are All-Star caliber, but he's been left off the National League roster.
The Philadelphia Phillies will be well represented as the All-Star Game comes to Citizens Bank Park later this month. Five members of the Phillies roster are headed to the Midsummer Classic, which is tied for the most by any team after the initial roster was announced.
The thing is, one Phillies player has an argument for being the biggest snub of the year: starting pitcher Zack Wheeler.
There were plenty of questions about how Wheeler would look post-shoulder surgery, but he’s looked better than ever. Over his 13 starts this year, the Phillies starter owns a 2.36 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP, which rank fifth and third in the National League, respectively.
Each player ahead of Wheeler in ERA, being Jacob Misiorowski, Shohei Ohtani, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Chris Sale, each made the All-Star roster, which is fair. But players such as Max Meyer (3.66 ERA) and Chase Burns (1.08 WHIP) made the team over Wheeler.
Even after three National League pitchers opted out, Braxton Ashcraft, Jesus Luzardo, and Riley O’Brien were named to the All-Star team over Weheeler.
Jun 21, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) leaves the game against the New York Mets in the sixth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn ImagesPerhaps it really did come down to Wheeler missing the first month, which played into his being left off the All-Star team. The Phillies' starter has thrown 80.0 innings so far this season. Then again, that’s not too much less than Ohtani’s 85.2 innings pitched.
Even Wheeler’s advanced numbers point toward a pitcher who is still throwing at an elite level. He owns a strike rate of 27.3 percent (80th percentile), a chase rate of 36.2 percent (93rd percentile), and a whiff rate of 29 percent (77th percentile).
It’s rarely hard to make an argument for why Wheeler should not be an All-Star based on the numbers and comparison.
Even Wheeler’s agent called out MLB for Wheeler not being on the All-Star roster.
“I think the whole thing is tone deaf,” said B.B. Abbot (via The Athletic). “Everybody knows what he’s been through. And to not do what you needed to do to let this guy be honored in his home ballpark, it’s ludicrous.”
At this point, it doesn’t seem like anything is going to change.
Hopefully, Wheeler can use this All-Star snub as fuel to power an even better second half of the season for the Phillies.
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