The 2026 MLB All-Star Game is being played at Citizens Bank Park, Zack Wheeler’s home stadium, and Zack Wheeler was not on the roster. An 8-1 record. A 2.36 ERA. A 0.94 WHIP. Top-five in bWAR among all MLB pitchers. Not invited to the party happening literally at his house.
I genuinely cannot believe this is a sentence I had to type.
Wheeler came back from thoracic outlet surgery on April 25. He picked up where he left off before the injury ate most of 2025: eight quality starts in his first ten outings, 84 strikeouts in 80 innings. The guy returned from major surgery and immediately became one of the best pitchers in baseball. The reward for this was getting left off the All-Star roster for a game in the building where he works.
The full roster dropped and Wheeler’s name wasn’t on it.
https://x.com/6abc/status/2073602835900465465
Todd Zolecki of MLB.com then reported the full sequence: Wheeler was added as a replacement after the initial roster came out, then opted out himself. Wheeler’s explanation was that he’d “rather get myself ready to go for the second half.” That’s actually a reasonable thing for a guy returning from surgery to say. I respect it. And it still makes the whole situation more absurd — he had to be let back in through the side door, told his team thanks but no thanks, and now someone else has his spot at a game being played in South Philly.
My sister texted me about this last night. Her exact words were: “are they physically allergic to being happy in Philadelphia.” She is not wrong.
Here is where I have to be honest with you, though. His own teammate Cristopher Sanchez is 10-3 with a 2.00 ERA. That is legitimately better than a 2.36. Sanchez earned his All-Star spot, and it would’ve been stranger to leave him off instead. Wheeler’s inning count (80 IP in 13 starts) is also lower than you’d expect from a full-season ace, because of the surgery timeline.
The selectors weren’t purely being idiots.
But here’s the thing about the numbers argument: I don’t actually care. Wheeler is fifth in bWAR among all MLB pitchers. The All-Star Game is at Citizens Bank Park. Five Phillies made it. Their own ace — the guy who was throwing no-hit ball before his shoulder decided to betray him in 2025 — was an afterthought who needed a roster injury to get back in, then decided the whole thing wasn’t worth his time.
That’s Philadelphia in a nutshell. The city hosts the All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park for the first time ever, and manages to snub one of its own starters in the process. Schwarber’s going to hit three home runs in front of the whole league and Wheeler will be watching from home, icing his shoulder and probably getting better for it.
At least someone’s making a smart decision here. It’s definitely not the selectors.
