Coming off his worst start of the season, right-hander Zack Wheeler will try and help pitch the Philadelphia Phillies to a sweep of their three-game series versus the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif.
Wheeler (10-5, 3.40 ERA) has struggled badly since allowing two hits and striking out 10 over six innings in his last start before the All-Star break. He was 10-1 with a 2.13 ERA and in the thick of the National League Cy Young race following that win.
The worm has turned for Wheeler, who fell to 0-4 since that start after allowing a season-high eight earned runs on nine hits — including four home runs — and five walks in four-plus innings in a 9-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners.
Wheeler claims he’s feeling fine despite the drastic downturn.
“I’m healthy, strong — everything’s there,” said Wheeler, who missed the end of the 2025 season with venous thoracic outlet syndrome and a right shoulder blood clot. “So, I just don’t know. Just got to zone it back in and figure it out.
“I’m just really struggling the past few. All I can really throw for a strike – a good quality strike – is a fastball right now, and that’s not even fully consistent. So when you’re pitching kind of with one pitch, it’s pretty hard up here.”
The good news is that Wheeler will be facing an Angels team that has lost six straight and is in a dead heat with the Colorado Rockies for the worst record in baseball. Wheeler is 3-0 with a 2.81 ERA in three career appearances (all starts) against Los Angeles.
Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (0-4, 6.25) will make his second start since coming off the 60-day injured list after missing four months with left shoulder inflammation. It will be his first start at Angel Stadium since April 18 when he allowed four hits and one earned run over six innings while striking out eight in a 4-1 loss to the San Diego Padres.
Kikuchi gave up five runs on seven hits in five innings in his return from the injured list on Sunday, a 5-3 loss to the Texas Rangers. The good news was that his fastball averaged 96 mph, a slight increase from where it was when he went on the injured list.
“I thought the stuff was good,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki told the Orange County Register. “The velo was up. It just came down to execution, with two strikes. He did a really good job of getting to two strikes, and then with two strikes, the execution wasn’t as good, and those are the mistakes they hit.”
Kikuchi is 0-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two career starts against Philadelphia.
The Angels have lost all six games during their losing streak by two runs or fewer, including 4-2 in 10 innings on Saturday. Twice they lost despite leading going into the ninth inning, including Friday’s series opener when Edmundo Sosa hit a two-out, pinch-hit grand slam to give the Phillies a 5-3 victory.
“It’s definitely heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, whatever you want to call it,” Suzuki said. “But at the same time, they’re professionals and, like I’ve said, these guys are resilient, man. … They’ll never stop fighting. They’ll never stop battling.”
–Field Level Media
