You might expect a streak of excellence from Phillies starting pitching if it was led by their dominant ace, Zack Wheeler. You might not expect a streak of excellence from Phillies starting pitching in the absence of their dominant ace,

So the Phillies will soldier on. They will try to win the World Series without their Game 1 starter, their ace, the best pitcher in baseball since joining the Phils prior to the 2020 season. It is impossible to replace someone who has put up a 2.18 ERA in 11 career postseason starts over 70 1/3 innings with a 0.725 WHIP.

Phillies ace right-hander Zack Wheeler is out for the rest of the season, the team announced Saturday. Wheeler, 35, has been diagnosed with venous thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), and the recommendation was to undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery in the coming weeks. Such a procedure typically has a recovery time of six to eight months.