Zach Wheeler

Hopewell Valley Student Podcasting Network

You are listening to I-95 the podcast with your host(s) Charlie Mott.

In this episode of Zach Wheeler the Podcast we discuss: his early life, career with the phillies and his rise to the majors.

Zachary Harrison Wheeler was born on May 30, 1990
Wheeler was born to a baseball-playing family in Smyrna, Georgia, but moved to Dallas, Georgia, shortly before the start of high school.
Wheeler's father played amateur baseball for 15 years, while his mother continued playing competitive softball even after having children, going so far as to placing a playpen in the dugout during weekend tournaments.[3]
Zack was the youngest of three brothers, all of whom grew up playing baseball.
he pitched for East Paulding High School, where he played baseball and basketball.
He led the team to a state playoff appearance in 2009 and pitched a no-hitter against Mill Creek High School.
As a junior in 2008, Wheeler posted an 8–3 win–loss record, with a 1.31 earned run average and 127 strikeouts and was named the Georgia High School Association 4A Region Pitcher of the Year.
The following season, he set a school record with 149 strikeouts in 76 innings, in addition to posting a 9–0 record and 0.54 ERA, and was named the Gatorade Georgia Player of the Year.

The San Francisco Giants selected Wheeler in the first round, sixth overall, of the 2009 MLB Draft.
At the time, he had committed to playing college baseball at Kennesaw State.[9] however, Wheeler chose to sign with the Giants, a deal that included a $3.3 million signing bonus.
He made an appearance at the 2010 All-Star Futures Game in Anaheim, California.
Prior to the 2011 season, Baseball America named Wheeler the number two prospect in the Giants organization, and declared that he had the "best fastball" in the farm system.
On July 28, 2011, the Giants traded Wheeler to the New York Mets in exchange for veteran outfielder Carlos Beltrán and cash.
In addition to being named an Eastern League All-Star, Wheeler received his second All-Star Future Game selection in 2012.
Wheeler made his major league debut on June 18, 2013, pitching six shutout innings against the atlanta braves.
He finished his rookie season with a 7–5 record, a 3.42 ERA, and 84 strikeouts in 100 innings across 17 starts.
On March 16, 2015, the Mets announced that Wheeler had unfortunately torn the UCL in his right elbow. He underwent Tommy John surgery for the torn ligament 10 days later .
He made his first major league start in over two years on April 8, 2017 After a series of set backs and injuries.
He would go on to pitch for the Mets for 3 more inconsistent seasons Prior to becoming a free agent at the end of 2019.

On December 9, 2019, the Philadelphia Phillies signed Wheeler as a free agent to a five-year, $118 million contract.
He made his team debut with a 7–1 victory against the Miami Marlins on July 25, 2020, less than a week after the birth of his son Wesley.
Wheeler finished the pandemic-shortened 2020 season with a 4–2 record and 2.92 ERA in 11 games and 71 innings,
He was the first pitcher in Phillies history to allow three or fewer runs in each of his first 10 starts with the team,
Wheeler received his first MLB All-Star Game selection in 2021.
He led MLB with a career-high in innings pitched, finishing the season 14–10 with a 2.78 ERA as well as a league-leading three complete games that year
Even though he came in second for the Cy Young award and the Gold glove award, He captured the NL strikeout title with 247 strikeouts.
In 2022, he was 12–7 with a 2.82 ERA in 153 innings with 163 strikeouts over 26 starts
In the following year, his ERA worsened to 3.61, but his win-loss record improved to 13–6. He struck out 212 batters in 192 innings and earned his first career Gold Glove Award.
Before his past season, Wheeler signed a three year 126 million dollar contract extension to stay with the Phillies.
In his most recent season, Wheeler went 16-7 with 2.57 ERA and 224 Strikeouts over 32 games proving that he is one of the most dominant pitchers in the game today.