Zack Wheeler started falling behind in his counts and then, just as quickly, into trouble.
Nolan Arenado lined a single into left after drawing a 3-1 count, and then Wilson Contreras, in the same scenario an at-bat later, got a hold of another heater and launched it over the wall.
The Phillies never recovered from it.
Wheeler, the ace righthander, gave up two more runs in a 7-0 Phillies loss to the Cardinals on Sunday, which dropped the three-game series in St. Louis on the back of a shutout each in the opener and the finale.
The Phillies are 9-6, which is hardly a cause for panic midway through April, but after a solid start out of the gate with series wins over the Nationals, Rockies, and powerhouse Dodgers, what followed were frustrating sets against the rival Braves and then the Cardinals this past weekend where the Phils dropped two of three in each.
And with cause for concern.
There are the obvious and right now heavily scrutinized reasons, of course: Brandon Marsh and Alec Bohm are struggling immensely, the calls out of the bullpen are carrying wildly varying degrees of certainty, and between the Braves and the Cardinals series, those longstanding boom-or-bust habits at the plate are seeming to rear their ugly heads again.
But should Wheeler be hovering into concern, too?
Willson Contreras takes Zack Wheeler DEEP for the lead! pic.twitter.com/ZfGulfmp6o
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 13, 2025
Like the rest of the club, he started hot and looked like his typical Cy Young-caliber self through his first two outings. He struck out eight and allowed only a run and two hits against Washington on Opening Day, then came back home to South Philly and punched out 10 Colorado batters, again with only a run allowed, a week later.
Against the Braves, though, he got tagged for three runs in the second inning, which required the Phillies' bats to climb back from, then handed a bases-loaded jam to Matt Strahm in the sixth, which led to two more runs crossing for a 5-5 tie that swung momentum back to Atlanta.
Then against the Cardinals on Sunday, he was holding on, having surged through the first three innings, but hit a roadblock in the fourth.
Wheeler still fought through six innings for the Phils, but allowed seven hits and only struck out three on the way to it, and offensively, it was on a day where they just couldn't give him the run support.
So far, that leaves the 34-year-old Wheeler at 1-1 after four starts, with a 4.07 ERA, a 1.068 WHIP, and a 10.4 strikeout per nine innings rate – the latter two of which are on par with his career averages.
It should be noted, too, that Wheeler didn't have an exactly fortunate start to last season, going 0-3 through his first five appearances before he (and the Phillies along with him) settled in and rallied himself into the Cy Young conversation by year's end.
So maybe it's just bad luck right now. Aaron Nola, as the next top righthander behind him in the rotation, has had a shaky start to the year as well, but recently, manager Rob Thomson chalked that up to the longtime veteran's tendency to have some early struggles in March and April.
As for Wheeler…
"Kind of lost the plate and got behind Arenado, and then he got behind Contreras, and the fastball just leaked out over the plate and he got him," Thomson said after Sunday's loss (via NBC Sports Philadelphia). "In the sixth, it just looked like he ran into some bad luck more than anything.
"But I thought his stuff was pretty good. He had 30 pitches after three innings or something like that, so he was pretty efficient early and then the fourth inning, they put a few pitches on him and he just lost the plate."
So maybe it's something to keep an eye on, knowing that Wheeler does have plenty to his body of work to show that he can rebound quick.
And it is still April, too. There's no need to panic now.
MORE: Winners and losers as Phillies struggle in series loss to Cardinals
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