Philadelphia Phillies Ace Could Win First Cy Young Because Of New Pitch

The Philadelphia Phillies got an absolute steal when they handed Zack Wheeler a five-year, $118 million contract to leave the New York Mets in free agency prior to the 2020 season.

After battling some injuries during his tenure with their division rivals, he has been rock solid for the Phillies, leading all starting pitchers in WAR since signing his deal.

Their ace was able to cash in on his performance, earning a three-year, $126 million contract extension with Philadelphia this offseason.

But despite all the money and all the success that Wheeler has had, he wasn't content with just sitting back and preparing like usual for 2024.

He worked on developing a new pitch, something that he thinks will finally win him his first Cy Young award after being runner-up in 2021 and finishing sixth in 2023.

"I think this could put me over the top and hopefully get a Cy Young," he told Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia about his new splitter back in March. "That's what I want to do, and if I can take care of lefties the way I take care of righties, hopefully that'll take care of itself."

Wheeler wanted to adjust after left-handed batters slashed .261/.310/.412 against him last year, the worst he's performed against lefties during his Phillies tenure according to Bailey Digh of Phillies Nation.

The improvements have been immediate.

So far, the splitter has produced a batting average of .100 and whiff rate of 35.9% on 73 thrown pitches. Lefties are slashing .203/.288/.344 against him this season.

Wheeler has also gotten off to another incredible start with an ERA of 1.93 through his six starts.

Whether or not this will be the catalyst that earns him some hardware that would be much deserved will be seen, but Philadelphia is much more dangerous with their ace improving upon what he has done the past few years when he was already dominating hitters.

That's a scary thought for any team facing the star right-hander.