Wheeler's ST debut: fried chicken, new pitch, 4 K's

March 5th, 2024

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Trays of Raising Cane¡¯s chicken, fries and Texas toast filled two tables in the Phillies' clubhouse on Tuesday.

Only could treat teammates to a pregame meal like this. Wheeler is a fast food/junk food aficionado. A couple of years ago, he and former teammate Zach Eflin used the vacant locker between them at Citizens Bank Park to stock a variety of sweet and salty snacks. Last summer, teammates celebrated his 10 years of MLB service time by bringing bags of McDonald¡¯s into the clubhouse.

¡°I got them my type of food,¡± Wheeler said, a day after signing a three-year, $126 million contract extension. ¡°Get them nice and greased up for the game.¡±

Wheeler is back to baseball after a busy two weeks. He agreed to the contract extension on Feb. 24. His wife, Dominique, gave birth to their daughter, Winter, on Feb. 27, making him a father of three. The team held a press conference to announce the deal on Monday.

On Tuesday, Wheeler pitched in his first Grapefruit League game, a 3-2 loss to the Orioles at BayCare Ballpark. He debuted a splitter, which is the newest addition to his already formidable arsenal. Wheeler had talked with Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham throughout the offseason about finding a pitch to better combat lefties. They talked about changeups. Wheeler texted Cotham photos of different grips, but they finally settled on a splitter.

¡°I think this could put me over the top and hopefully get a Cy Young,¡± Wheeler said. ¡°That¡¯s what I want to do. If I can take care of lefties, like I do righties, hopefully it¡¯ll take care of itself.¡±

Right-handers batted .195 with a .314 slugging percentage last season against Wheeler. Left-handers batted .261 and slugged .412.

¡°I think this is why he¡¯s at where he¡¯s at,¡± Cotham said. ¡°It¡¯s constantly trying to get a little better. When these guys are already really, really good, those little bitty details are the difference. For him, it's maybe another option for a lefty. He can save a cutter, save a slider, save a fastball, just to make them kind of respect the speed gap a little bit. And that's kind of the goal of a changeup for anybody.

¡°They can't sit maybe as much in one speed band, and he can play the back and forth game enough. Because it doesn't have to be great. We've talked about just throwing a really good one that's consistent. My hunch is he's capable of making something that¡¯s really nasty, but it's like, let's just get something that we can repeat and do and use in our arsenal to not take away from his strengths.¡±

Wheeler threw three splitters on Tuesday. Heston Kjerstad fouled off a 1-1 split in the first at-bat in the second. Two batters later, Kyle Stowers swung and missed a 1-0 split. Wheeler yanked a 2-2 split down and in before striking him out.

¡°Earlier in the spring I was kind of slowing my arm down a little bit when I was trying to throw it,¡± Wheeler said. ¡°[Kyle] Schwarber, I was facing those guys, and they kind of pointed it out to me. I was just trying to throw it a little bit harder today. The last bullpen, it was a little better. It¡¯s good to have that feedback.¡±

Wheeler said he enjoys this part of the game. He came to camp last spring wanting to throw a sweeper. He did. Right-handers batted .169 against it.

¡°It keeps it fun, it keeps the hitters guessing,¡± Wheeler said. ¡°If you keep the same bag of tools, they¡¯re going to know what you throw in certain counts a lot, what you start them with, what you finish them with.¡±

Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto liked what he saw.

¡°It¡¯s just having something that¡¯s not hard and coming into a lefty,¡± he said. ¡°Pretty much everything he throws is angled coming into a lefty, whether it¡¯s the slider, curveball, cutter, even his four-seam cuts a little bit. So everything is coming into a lefty. So something that goes the other direction that takes some pace off is just going to help him.¡±

Asked if he was surprised to see Wheeler learning another new pitch, Realmuto said no. But then, he also wasn¡¯t surprised to see Wheeler bringing fried chicken into the clubhouse.

¡°I only had two of them, but I could feel it,¡± Realmuto said. ¡°I definitely felt it when I was running from second to home. I can¡¯t have that much grease before a game.¡±

seductrice.net
universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
prowp.net
webmanicura.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
kftz5k.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
casino-natali.com
iprofit-internet.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
healthandfitnesslives.com
androidnews-jp.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
britsmile.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
rajasthancarservices.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
hemendekor.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com