Wheeler's Return Sparks Phillies' Turnaround Hopes

0:00On April 22nd, Zach Wheeler's finally making his season debut Saturday night against the Braves, strayed from Philly's manager Rob Thompson. The three-time All-Star has been out since the rassic outlet surgery last year, but he wrapped up his fifth minor league rehab star Sunday with four, innings on 77 pitches. Earlier this week, Thompson laid out the short-term rotation, an opener tomorrow before Taiwan Walker, bulks against the Cubs, then Christopher Sanchez. On Thursday, Andrew Paine opens Friday in Atlanta, with Aaron Nola closing the weekend Sunday. That sets up J.S.U.'s Luzardo, with six days' rest before the Giants series. The Philly staff is hurting bad-ranked 27th in MLB. With a 5.48 ERA entering tonight, Walker's been rough in his first four starts, never past five innings and coughing up six homers lately, pushing him toward long relief on his final. Year of a $72 million deal. Paine Sanchez has shown early, while Luzardo's inconsistent, Nola serving up homers at over

1:02five earned runs per nine, and painters solid but, fabied. The Phil's sit at 8 and 15 after a 7 to 4 loss to the Cubs tonight, despite Luzardo's four and two-thirds of one-run ball. Wheeler could spark this mess, but his velocities dipped three miles per hour in rehab to 93 down from 96 last year. Philly's fans are crossing fingers as the two-time defending NLE's champs chase a turnaround. That's the story for today. MLB News Today, driven by AI, I'm Corey with The Story.