Phillies sign Zack Wheeler to five-year, $118 million deal, per report

The Phillies have agreed to terms with free-agent starting pitcher Zack Wheeler, as The Athletic’s Marc Carig was the first to report on Wednesday. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the deal is for five years and $118 million:

Wheeler, who has spent the entirety of his seven major-league seasons to date with the Mets, joins the division-rival Phillies and should be a key figure at the front of their rotation. While Aaron Nola is their best and most consistent starter, Wheeler should be a solid No. 2 and will take some of the pressure off of Jake Arrieta, who clearly is no longer the same pitcher he was when the Phillies signed him to a three-year, $75 million deal prior to the 2018 season, largely due to persistent injury concerns, including a bone spur in his right elbow that limited him significantly in 2019.

It’s fair to point out that Wheeler has dealt with injuries quite a bit himself, having missed the entirety of the 2015-16 seasons while spending time on the disabled/injured list in 2017 and ‘19. But aside from a rough ‘17 season, he has been pretty consistent when he’s been healthy, posting a 3.77 career ERA and a 1.29 WHIP over 126 career starts.

After a rough start (he had a 4.69 ERA prior to the All-Star break), Wheeler shined in the second half and finished with a 3.96 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP while averaging nine strikeouts and 2.3 walks per nine innings over 31 starts — pretty good considering how offense-heavy Major League Baseball was as a whole this past season.