Phillies receive concerning injury news on Zack Wheeler

Shortly after the Philadelphia Phillies lost 2-0 to the Washington Nationals on Saturday, president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, announced that Zack Wheeler would be going on the 15-day injured list with a blood clot.

However, there is no timeline for Wheeler's return, as the blood clot is located near his right shoulder, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.

It's an obvious blow not only for the Phillies' pitching staff, but for Wheeler's National League Cy Young Award chances. This likely takes him out of the running for the honor as September quickly approaches.

The 35-year-old right-hander is 10-5 this season with a 2.71 ERA and a major league-leading 195 strikeouts across 149.2 innings. 

The unfortunate injury news comes on the heels of two promising pitching updates for Philadelphia. Aaron Nola, who has been on the IL since May with an ankle sprain, is set to return and start against the Nationals on Sunday.

Additionally, the club avoided an injury scare with closer and trade-deadline acquisition Jhoan Duran, who was struck with a line drive on the ankle on Friday night. Duran said he was "100 percent" on Saturday and was available to pitch if the situation allowed.

The Phillies hold a five-game lead over the New York Mets in the NL East as of Saturday. Naturally, Philadelphia hopes its ace will return sooner rather than later as they prepare for the postseason.