Philadelphia Phillies Elite Starter Adds 6th Pitcher To Arsenal

Zack Wheeler is already one of the nastiest pitchers in all of baseball.

Now, he's adding another pitch to his arsenal.

He has recently added a cutter to his repertoire, and now he's experimenting with a new pitch, a "sweeper."

The "sweeper" is a slower, slurve-like slider that has a last-second curveball-like movement. It's an offspeed pitch that breaks in towards a lefty batter and out on a righty batter, making it a challenging pitch to hit if executed correctly. This pitch is a mix between a changeup and a curveball and has the most break of all of Wheeler's pitches.

Here is a look at a couple of #Phillies Zack Wheeler's sweepers. He used it against both LHH and RHH and attacked the ride side of the plate against both. pic.twitter.com/Qd2yobbAoO

— Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) March 1, 2023

Wheeler had a smooth Spring Training debut with a nice and easy two-inning performance, striking out two batters with ease and throwing 19 pitches, 15 of which were strikes. 

In 2021, he led the majors in innings pitched, with a total of 213.1. Despite missing six starts late in the season last season, he went on to make six starts in the playoffs, bringing his total innings pitched for the year to 188.2.

New year, same ace Zack Wheeler 😳🔥 https://t.co/lTxlyzhTeG pic.twitter.com/50w6hPgcfJ

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) February 28, 2023

Since joining the Phillies in 2020, the thirty-two-year-old has compiled a stellar 2.82 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, with 463 strikeouts across 437 innings and 69 starts.

Expect another All-Star year from Wheeler this season. 
Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports