Zachary Harrison Wheeler (born May 30, 1990) is a Major League Baseball pitcher who currently pitches for the Philadelphia Phillies (MLB).
He was a member of the New York Mets from 2013 to 2019. Wheeler was traded to the New York Mets on July 28, 2011, in exchange for veteran outfielder Carlos Beltrán and cash.
The Giants elected to trade Wheeler over a position player, according to general manager Brian Sabean “We didn’t expect (Zack) Wheeler to have an immediate influence on our situation.
To be honest, it’s our responsibility to discover or invent a new Wheeler.” He pitched the rest of the season with the Class A St. Lucie Mets, going 2–2 with a 2.50 ERA and 31 strikeouts in 27 innings across six starts.
Wheeler throws a four-seam fastball, a sinker, a curveball, a slider, and a changeup among his five pitches. Wheeler’s four-seam fastball, which has a release motion similar to that of retiring Phillies ace Cole Hamels, is considered his finest pitch by baseball pundits.
In 2019, he averaged 96.8 mph (155.8 km/h), which was much faster than the MLB average of 93.4 mph (150.3 km/h). Wheeler’s sinker is also notable for its velocity: his sinker velocity of 97.1 mph (156.3 km/h) was second-highest among pitchers who threw the pitch at least 100 times during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.