Philadelphia Phillies: Zack Wheeler has surgery on ailing fingernail

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler had a procedure done on the middle fingernail of his pitching hand and will be ready for the beginning of spring training.

Zack Wheeler visited a doctor and had a surgical procedure which was a long time coming. No, the Philadelphia Phillies pitcher did not visit Dr. James Andrews, and it wasn’t Tommy John surgery. Wheeler has already been there and done that.

Wheeler was a patient of Dr. Gary Lourie, who performed a resection procedure on a fingernail, which has caused problems going back to before 2012.

The issue didn’t seem to bother Wheeler this past season as he made eleven starts and went 4-2 with a 2.92 ERA in what was the first year of his new 5 YR/$118M deal with the Phillies.

The fact Wheeler was able to put in so much work had to come as a relief to a team that invested so much in him. Wheeler is no stranger to the injury bug, having been sidelined numerous times over the course of his career for the likes of bicep tendonitis, right shoulder fatigue, fingernail issues, and the aforementioned Tommy John surgery which kept him out all of 2015.

When healthy, Wheeler has the ability to be a top tier pitcher. Entering this year he had a career record of 44-38 with a 3.77 ERA. He was a good pitcher on some bad New York Mets teams and was a key figure in a three headed pitching monster which also included Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. All three had trouble staying healthy.

As far as the Phillies are concerned, this fingernail issue, which was exacerbated when Wheeler caught his nail on a zipper, is a non-issue. Wheeler will be back at the beginning of spring training and they expect him to head up a pitching staff with Aaron Nola and Jake Arrieta (who the Phillies hold a team option on).

The Philadelphia Phillies will need Wheeler at full strength for the length of the season if they hope to get back to the postseason for the first time since 2011.