In five days, Major League Baseball’s midsummer showcase arrives at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia — and Zack Wheeler, who pitches there every home game and is having one of the best seasons in baseball, will not be in attendance.
This is because Wheeler is scheduled to start on July 13, the Sunday before the All-Star Game, which renders him ineligible to participate under MLB rules. The All-Star Game is being held at his stadium. The rule says that does not matter. And so it doesn’t.
His agent, B.B. Abbott, had thoughts. “It’s just tone deaf,” Abbott told The Athletic. “I think the whole thing is tone deaf.” He elaborated: “Major League Baseball knows. Everybody knows what he’s been through. And to not do what you needed to do to let this guy be honored in his home ballpark, it’s ludicrous.” Abbott has a client with a 9-1 record and a 2.28 ERA who returned from thoracic outlet decompression surgery less than three months ago; the argument practically makes itself. He made it anyway, at length, which is his job.
The relevant context Abbott is working with: Wheeler, 36, ranks eighth among pitchers in bWAR this season. He would rank fifth in NL ERA and third in NL WHIP if he were eligible. He is a three-time All-Star. The procedure ended his 2025 season early; he returned April 25 and has been roughly untouchable since. He’s one of the biggest snubs of the 2026 All-Star Game, which, again, is being held at his stadium.
Five Phillies made the roster: Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Marsh, Cristopher Sánchez, and Jhoan Durán. Then came the replacement selections: Braxton Ashcraft of the Pirates, Riley O’Brien of the Cardinals, and — this is the part that belongs in a different kind of story — Jesús Luzardo, Wheeler’s own teammate, who will now attend the All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park while Wheeler starts a regular-season game somewhere else.
“He’s boring,” Abbott continued. “He just goes out and does his job. And he’s the best pitcher in baseball, the last six, seven, eight, nine and 10 years, honestly…he’s just seen as this not marketable player by the game.” Abbott may be overstating the case slightly in the manner of agents paid to overstate cases; he may also be correct. The empirical record is not entirely against him.
Wheeler himself was somewhat less diplomatic. “It pisses me off and it’s kind of B.S.,” he said. “I feel like I’ve earned it.” He added, of the Sunday start that made him ineligible: “You figure they would have a clue about it by now.”
On July 7, the night MLB announced its replacement picks, Wheeler started against the Cincinnati Reds and threw seven innings of one-run ball, walked nobody, and struck out 14, tying his own career high.
https://x.com/MLB/status/2074662009547751920
“That was a reminder for whoever needs to be reminded,” Wheeler said afterward.
There is a version of this story where MLB adjusts its scheduling rules to accommodate a circumstance this specific and this avoidable; the All-Star Game does not come to Philadelphia every year, and the best pitcher in that city does not get blood clots and return from them in time to pitch at a 2.28 ERA every year either. The league has not indicated it intends to pursue that version. Zack Wheeler will start on July 13; the All-Star Game will proceed at Citizens Bank Park on July 14; and the league that failed to figure this out will hand the MVP trophy to somebody else in a building where Wheeler has his locker.
