Phillies Superstar Zack Wheeler Predicted To Finish As NL Cy Young Runner-Up Again

Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler continues to defy logic.

Coming off an injury-riddled tenure with the New York Mets, not many were expecting much out of the right-hander when he inked a five-year, $118 million deal with the Phillies ahead of the 2020 campaign.

But he has been nothing short of sensational since that point, owning an ERA of 2.85 across 151 regular season starts and 945 1/3 innings pitched.

In fact, Wheeler has been the most valuable pitcher in baseball since he came to Philadelphia, owning an fWAR of 28.4 that is six wins above the second place Corbin Burnes during this span.

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What he's done since putting on a Phillies uniform is Hall of Fame-worthy, but the only thing that's missing from his illustrious career is a Cy Young Award.

Wheeler has come close on two separate occasions, finishing runner-up twice in 2021 and 2024.

Getting beat out by Chris Sale last year is understandable since the lefty put together a Triple Crown-winning season that was one of the most dominant in recent memory.

However, Wheeler's loss to Burnes in 2021 is something plenty of people take exception to, with Philadelphia's star having a higher bWAR, more wins, more starts, more innings pitched and more strikeouts to go along with three complete games and two complete-game shutouts.

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This season, Wheeler is making his case to win the prestigious award again.

After an incredible June that was followed up with a stretch to begin July that earned him the NL Player of the Week Award, he sits with the highest bWAR, most wins and most strikeouts in the National League to go along with a sizzling 2.17 ERA across his 18 starts.

Based on what he's done during his time with the Phillies, conventional wisdom would suggest he's going to be rewarded with the NL Cy Young Award if he continues this level of play.

However, that's not going to happen in the mind of Bleacher Report's Tim Kelly.

"Beyond predicting [Paul] Skenes will take home the NL Cy Young Award, we'll also throw in the prediction Zack Wheeler will finish runner-up," he wrote.

That would be a devasting reality if it comes true.

While Wheeler has continued to age like fine win in his career, he's also 35 years old and has already put a finishing date on his career.

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There aren't many more opportunities for him to add this crown jewel achievement to his list of accolades.

At this point in the season, it would be hard not to give Wheeler the NL Cy Young Award.

While Skenes has been incredible with his 1.94 ERA, Wheeler has pitched the same amount of innings with one less start, giving up fewer hits and walks while striking out more batters.

If at the end of the year Wheeler falters and Skenes continues this incredible first half of the season into the second half, then it would be more understandable to see Wheeler come up short again.

But if Wheeler is able to replicate what he's doing, then there's no way he shouldn't be given the NL Cy Young Award that he already should have to his name.

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