Phillies predicted to see Zack Wheeler win an MLB award, but not NL Cy Young

The Philadelphia Phillies have Cristopher Sanchez in contention with Jacob Misiorowski for the NL Cy Young Award, as he tries to do something Zack Wheeler didn't do during his prime with the Phillies.

While Wheeler has regressed a bit lately, with his outings being quite concerning, his return to the mound this season has still been a big success, especially coming off thoracic outlet syndrome last August.

But even though Wheeler hasn't been Cy Young caliber this season, Jim Bowden of The Athletic is predicting Wheeler will win an end-of-season award. More specifically, Wheeler is predicted to win the NL Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Phillies' Zack Wheeler predicted to win Comeback Player of the Year Award

"This is actually a close race, as both Wheeler and Alcantara have had great comeback seasons," Bowden writes. "Lately, Wheeler has struggled a bit but has still had a more vintage Wheeler season than anyone could have reasonably expected given the surgery he had last fall to address thoracic outlet syndrome."

Sandy Alcantara is also a strong contender for this award, but Bowden is predicting Wheeler would earn this accolade thanks to the more severe nature of his injury and this overall better production this season.

While he's struggled a lot lately, he still has a 3.40 ERA on the season with a 10-5 record and 3.7 bWAR. If this season-long production were more evenly spread out throughout his 2026 season, then there would be a lot more positive vibes around Wheeler.

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It's just his recent production, resulting in an 8.51 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched in his last six starts with a 0-3 record, that's making this a closer race than it otherwise should be.

In Wheeler's first 16 starts of the season, he went 10-2 with 117 strikeouts and a 2.16 ERA in 100 innings pitched.

The 36-year-old right-hander has been great this season overall, especially considering his thoracic outlet syndrome offseason surgery.

Bowden is predicting the Phillies' ace will be the NL Comeback Player of the Year winner this season, and considering what he's come back from and how good he's looked in his return, it's hard to find anyone more deserving than Wheeler.

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