SEATTLE — Zack Wheeler’s 100th pitch Monday night was a cutter thrown across the heart of the plate, one that drew a hearty swing from catcher Cal Raleigh and sent the ball into T-Mobile Park’s right-field stands in the fifth inning.Catcher J.T. Realmuto had set up close to the edge of the strike zone. The pitch, like many Wheeler threw on Monday, did not go where he wanted it. Command was spotty from the first inning onward for Wheeler who, entering the fifth, had given up six runs and thrown 92 pitches.“He wanted to go back out,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “And I kind of wanted him to go back out. We were going to keep it short. We weren’t going to let it go far. We’re down 6-2 at that point, and we’re in the fifth. Kind of really needed that inning, but didn’t get there.”Even with reliever Alex McFarlane warmed up, the deficit stretched 8-2 thanks to two more homers off Wheeler in quick succession. And a winning streak that began in the Iowa cornstalks and — seemingly against all odds — continued for nine games, ended with a 9-2 Phillies loss in Seattle.Wheeler, one of the Phillies’ aces, is still not right, continuing a month-long rough stretch in which he has walked far more batters, thrown far more pitches and pitched far fewer innings than usual. He now has a 7.59 ERA in 21 1/3 August innings. It has been frustrating for Wheeler, who said he feels healthy and strong after pitching nearly 125 innings this year coming off season-ending thoracic outlet surgery in 2025.But …“All I can really throw for a strike — a good quality strike — is a fastball right now,” Wheeler said. “And that’s not even fully consistent. So, when you’re pitching with one pitch, it’s pretty hard up here.”What’s going wrong has seemed to shift with each start. Wheeler’s splitter, among his most trusted weapons, was a problem on Monday. The pitch was hard-hit four times and landed for a hit three times, tying a career-high set in September 2020.Some of that was command driven, which has been one of the bigger problems for Wheeler during this stretch. He missed his spot several times on Monday, particularly in the first inning, when he walked two batters and gave up four hits, two of them homers.Wheeler walked five, tying his season-high. He has now walked 15 across his last four outings, his most in any four-game span since May 2014. It is almost unfathomable for Wheeler, who entered Monday’s game still ranked among the top-third of starting pitchers in walks per nine innings. He has built his reputation on having elite stuff and command.The stuff still looks strong. The velocity is holding. The pitch location is not as ideal.“It’s really just the command,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said. “His stuff still feels sharp. It’s coming out of his hand well. He’s getting into some bad counts, and then throwing the ball too much over the plate.”In just a few weeks, the dynamics in the Phillies’ rotation have wildly shifted. Andrew Painter, who pitched his best outing in the majors on Saturday, was in Triple-A less than a month ago. Aaron Nola, whose season ERA sits at 5.12, has pitched his way to a 2.74 ERA in August. The onus to win every Cristopher Sánchez, Jesus Luzardo and Wheeler start has eased somewhat thanks to how competitive Nola and Painter have been. The Phillies, even amid Wheeler’s struggles, have more starting pitchers giving them a chance to win each day.Having a strong Wheeler is preferable, but the Phillies have had other pitchers — and the lineup — pick them up along the way. That is enough for now, as they work toward at least solidifying their wild-card standing and ideally challenging for the NL East title.Come October, though, the Phillies will need Zack Wheeler to be Zack Wheeler. There is a month left to dig in, to figure out adjustments. Last start, Wheeler felt like he dug into legs more — which he said worked well until it caused trouble with his off-speed pitches. As for what happened on Monday, he is searching for answers.“Just got to really dig in,” Wheeler said. “That’s what I’m going to do tomorrow — sit down, talk, try to get some stuff figured out.”Even after Monday’s blow-out loss, it is hard to deny the magic of the Phillies’ nine game run. The improbable comeback on Sunday, Alec Bohm’s thrilling walk-off on Friday, the Kyle Schwarber homers into the corn that started the whole thing have dramatically changed the team’s outlook in less than two weeks. The Phillies now have the lowest strikeout rate of any team (14.7 percent) and the highest walk rate (12.0 percent) in August, along with leading the majors in OBP (.370) after struggling to walk much of the season. Though the lineup struggled and the Phillies lost ground on the Braves in the division, it is certainly still in play — a sentence that would be difficult to believe two weeks ago.So much about the Phillies has looked better this month. But Monday marked another difficult day for Wheeler. It is back to the drawing board.Aug 25, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms