Miami: Rob Thomson does not have a vote for the National League Cy Young Award, which is a privilege extended only to working members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. This is probably best for the integrity of the process as the Phillies manager is hardly a neutral observer. “There have been a bunch of pitchers who have had good years,” he said Friday at loanDepot Park. “But Zack Wheeler, to me — and I’m obviously biased — has been so consistent over the years I’ve been here. His ability to come through in big games, not just playoff games. When we’ve needed a win, or we needed to get a lot of innings to help the bullpen out, he’s done it. He’s done it every time.”
Not every time, maybe, but consistently enough that the conventional wisdom at the moment is that there are two top contenders for that particular piece of hardware, neck-and-neck, coming around the final turn and into the home stretch: Wheeler and Atlanta’s Chris Sale. Sale might hold a razor-thin edge at the moment, but there are three weeks and change left in the season and anything can still happen.
Wheeler continued to make his case Friday night in the Phillies’ 16-2 win over the Marlins. He allowed just two soft hits in six innings, striking out seven with one walk. “He looked like he was on cruise control out there,” said shortstop Trea Turner.
The only run Wheeler allowed came in the fourth on an infield hit by Connor Norby, a walk to Jake Burger, and a two-out grounder up the middle by Otto Lopez that caromed off second base and rolled into left for one of the stranger doubles you’ll ever see.
