Hope for the Phillies? Zack Wheeler looks like himself as Philly wins fourth straight after manager change

Wheeler made his second start since returning from a thoracic outlet procedure

Are things looking up for the previously scuffling Phillies? Zack Wheeler looked pretty much like his old self on Friday as the Phillies beat the Marlins 6-5 and are now 4-0 since changing managers. That all sounds pretty good. 

Wheeler was making his second start since returning from a thoracic outlet procedure following a blood clot in his shoulder that required the removal of one of his ribs. He worked six innings and built his pitch count up to 94. He struck out eight against two walks while allowing one run on three hits. 

It sounds pretty good, but it was actually dominance in stretches once he settled in. The one run Wheeler allowed came on back-to-back doubles in the first inning. He only gave up one hit in five scoreless innings after the first, and that one hit was an infield single. In innings 3-5, when he was at the height of looking like Prime Wheeler, he struck out six batters. 

There had previously been concerns about his velocity, but he sat in the mid-90s with his sinker in this one. The average velocity for his sinker was 94.5 miles per hour, with the four-seam fastball being 94.0. Last season, it was, on average, 95.4 mph on the sinker and 96.1 on the heater, so while it still wasn't all the way there, it's not really in the danger zone. 

His breaking stuff had good snap. And though he didn't command it as well as we've grown accustomed to seeing early in the game, there were shades of Prime Wheeler from that third inning on with it. 

The eye test said he just felt like himself from the third inning through the sixth as he generated 14 swings and misses.

Phillies win four straight after managerial change

The Phillies fired manager Rob Thomson on Monday, as they sat with a 9-19 record. Before this season, they hadn't been 10 games under .500 since the end of the 2017 season. They were 96-66 last year. As such, the Thomson dismissal wasn't all too surprising. Baseball lifer Don Mattingly took the helm and the Phillies have now gone 4-0 since. 

Now, it's obviously a small sample and just handing the keys to Mattingly doesn't all of a sudden turn the season around. Some might point out that the Phillies have played only the Giants and Marlins since the move. Sure, but the Phillies went 1-11 before Thomson was fired and they only played what appear to be two of the best teams in baseball in the Cubs and Braves. This schedule thing goes both ways. 

As things stand, the Phillies still have plenty of work to do. Having a 13-19 record through 32 games is still their worst start since 2017, after all, and the bullpen tried pretty hard to give this one away (a 6-1 lead after seven shrunk to a 6-5 final). 

Having what looks like a damn good version of Wheeler back in the rotation, along with a four-game winning streak, is a nice start to climbing out of the hole they dug.