Phillies place Wheeler on IL with blood clot

The Philadelphia Phillies placed ace Zack Wheeler on the injured list Saturday with a right upper extremity blood clot.

The clot is near his right shoulder and there's currently no timeline for his return, head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit told reporters, including The Athletic's Charlotte Varnes.

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski applauded doctors for finding the clot.

"It could have been a much more trying situation than it is," Dombrowski said, according to The Associated Press.

Designated hitter Kyle Schwarber said something was off when he didn't see Wheeler in the clubhouse before Saturday's game against the Washington Nationals.

"It's a scary situation, right?," Schwarber said, per Byron Kerr of MLB.com. "Anytime that you hear anything that visceral like if it's a blood clot, that is scary stuff. I want to get him back in here and hear from him and hopefully it's not going to be too serious.

"Baseball is baseball. When it comes to someone's health we need him healthy first. He's got a family. We want to get him feeling good for them and then get him back to speed whenever we can."

Wheeler is one of the NL Cy Young favorites, posting a 2.71 ERA with an MLB-leading 195 strikeouts over 149.2 innings.

The 35-year-old has never won the award. He finished second in voting in 2024 and 2021.