5 Phillies players vital for a deep postseason run

Phillies who need to step up: 2. Zack Wheeler

In every deep playoff run, you need a good pitcher, and with Zack Wheeler, that's what you get. While he struggled overall in the 2022 postseason, in the NLCS, he helped the Phillies secure a trip to the World Series versus the Astros. He pitched 13 innings with a record of 1-0, only giving up 2 runs in the NLCS. While he did struggle in the World Series, that's to be expected when you've never been to the postseason before.

In 2023, he has struggled quite a bit, holding a record of 11-6 with an ERA of 3.70. But now, he has fire in his eyes, looking for another chance to win it all and claim the glory for himself. Along with having a better offense around him, he's likely to be more relaxed and try not to do everything himself.

He's been a better pitcher than you see by looking at his stats, with an xERA (Expected ERA) of just 3.19, which shows that he's given up more runs than we would expect, while also improving massively with his 4-seam fastball, now being harder to hit than ever before with a batting average against of just .199.