Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said that Wheeler "felt physically fine" after covering just three innings during his start in Monday's 8-7 loss to the Marlins, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.
The NL Cy Young Award candidate struck out six but surrendered a season-high five runs on six hits and one walk in the start, which was his shortest outing in more than four years. Though Wheeler and Mattingly both indicated that no injury was behind the poor outing, the veteran right-hander's velocity on all six of his offerings was down at least one tick from his season-long averages, per Statcast. Wheeler wrote the performance off as "just one of those days," and despite not having his best stuff, he was still able to generate 13 whiffs on his 68 pitches. Assuming Wheeler reports no issues coming out of his next bullpen session, fantasy managers can include him in lineups with a fair amount of confidence heading into his next start, which is expected to come Sunday versus the Orioles at Camden Yards.