Phillies history teaches us Zack Wheeler is right to skip the MLB All-Star Game

The Phillies are in position to buy at this year's trade deadline thanks in part to the brilliant performance of Zack Wheeler. There were serious concerns about how Wheeler would look after undergoing surgery to address symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome over the offseason, but he came back in top form, going 9-1 with a 2.28 ERA in his first 14 starts.

Wheeler also worked to a 0.91 WHIP and struck out 98 batters in 87 innings pitched, numbers that by all rights should merit inclusion in the All-Star Game. Thanks to the flawed process involving player ballots, his pitching schedule and the need to represent all 30 teams, however, Wheeler was bypassed for inclusion multiple times.

After failing to be selected for the initial team, Wheeler complained that he was being skipped due to the fact he was scheduled to pitch on Sunday before the All-Star Game, which by rule meant that he couldn't pitch on Tuesday. The controversy Wheeler's comments generated led the league to offer him a spot as a replacement for one of several pitchers who won't be able to make the game, one that Wheeler refused out of principle.

Wheeler told Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic that "they disrespected me, so I'm not going to participate" in the game. MLB then named Los Angeles Dodgers starter Justin Wrobleski to the team instead to replace Cincinnati's Chase Burns.

Zack Wheeler exposed a major flaw in the All Star Game selection process

The situation with Wheeler marked the second consecutive year the Phillies have had a starter controversially snubbed for the All Star Game. Cristopher Sanchez, who was tabbed the NL's starter by Dave Roberts on Sunday, merited inclusion last year but was bypassed just like Wheeler due to the fact that he started Philadelphia's final game of the first half.

The situation escalated when the league claimed they offered Sanchez a spot on the team if he was willing to pitch an inning, an offer Sanchez said never actually happened. While it may seem trivial to some whether an All-Star Game nod is worth this much fuss, it is important to remember that many players have incentives in their contracts tied to these sorts of accolades — never mind the impact it has on their legacies once they've retired.

The Phillies paid out Sanchez's All-Star bonus in 2025 even though he didn't make the team, a good-will gesture between an organization and its star player who was let down by a flawed process. The obvious solution should have come by naming Wheeler to the team immediately, allowing him to either consider pitching in the game on one day of rest or declining and allowing the league to pick his replacement. That lack of common sense has been a theme with some of MLB's decision-making for years, creating a mountain out of a mole hill when a simple paperwork maneuver could have avoided all of this agita.

Wheeler made the correct call to take a stand for pitchers getting screwed by this flawed replacement process, which appears to be more concerned about having pitchers available to throw in the game than actually rewarding those who deserve All-Star honors the most. Being available to pitch shouldn't be a condition of All-Star recognition, especially when it is just an exhibition game that now ends in a mini-Home Run Derby if it is tied after nine innings.

The game itself has taken a lot of hits over the years, and the 2026 edition is particularly challenging, with nine replacements for injured or resting players already in the fold and Cam Schlittler, the presumptive AL starting pitcher, opting not to participate either. Perhaps the Wheeler situation has exposed that the All-Star Game itself needs to evolve beyond its current format, especially if it is going to be this hard to reward the right players or get enough willing stars to participate.

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