The Philadelphia Phillies dropped Friday night’s series opener to the Toronto Blue Jays after a rain delay pushed back the start time by several hours. But the real story unfolded when things got heated between Zack Wheeler and Toronto’s dugout.
The fireworks started while Wheeler was dealing from the mound. Blue Jays hitting coach Dustin Popkins got tossed from the game for arguing that Wheeler wasn’t pitching from the proper position on the rubber. Wheeler didn’t take kindly to the complaints and mouthed an expletive toward the Toronto bench.
That’s when things got interesting.
After the game, Wheeler didn’t hold back when Paul Casella of MLB.com asked about the incident. The Phillies ace took a not-so-subtle shot at Toronto’s struggles this season.
“I’ve been pitching over there forever, and I’m gonna keep doing it. They’ve lost a lot of games over there, so they’re probably trying to pick some things up to complain about.”
Ouch.
Here’s what Toronto was complaining about: they believed Wheeler wasn’t staying connected to the pitching rubber during his delivery. Pitchers have to maintain contact with the rubber throughout their motion, but the Blue Jays thought Wheeler was stepping off improperly.
The umpires sided with Toronto’s argument enough to eject Popkins for his vocal protests, but Wheeler clearly wasn’t buying it. His post-game comments suggest he thinks the Blue Jays are grasping at straws.
Wheeler’s dig about Toronto losing “a lot of games” hits pretty close to home. The Blue Jays entered Friday at 54-62, a far cry from the team that came within one win of beating the Astros in the World Series not too long ago.
Sure, they’re only 3.5 games back in the AL Wild Card race, but their actions at the trade deadline told the real story. Toronto shipped off Kevin Gausman, Daulton Varsho, and Jeff Hoffman, signaling they weren’t treating this as an all-in season.
Wheeler’s response shows he wasn’t just annoyed about the mound positioning complaint – he was ready to throw Toronto’s record right back at them. It’s the kind of back-and-forth that adds spice to what could’ve been just another interleague series.
The way Wheeler sees it, he’s been pitching the same way for years without issue. Now that Toronto’s struggling, they’re looking for anything to complain about. Whether that’s fair or not probably depends on which dugout you’re sitting in.
