Best pitcher in baseball: Phillies 3, Reds 1

You heard it here first

I can hear the howls in Detroit.

I can hear the groans in Pittsburgh.

Listen carefully and you’ll make out the distant grunts of opposition in San Francisco.

I’ll say it anyway: Zack Wheeler is the best pitcher in the game right now and Sunday, it was all on display. In a game that was as complete as one can be without it being perfect, Wheeler staked his claim to the apex of the game by thoroughly dominating the Cincinnati Reds.

You want swings and misses? Wheeler had 22 of them.

You want strikeouts? Wheeler had 12 of those.

You want outs on the ground? Wheeler had 9 of those.

In short, it was one of the dominant games Wheeler has thrown for the Phillies. We could get into the only blemish that he had, a fastball that Austin Hays drove for a home run, but that would be dwelling on the inconsequential. Even the great ones make a mistake and honestly, it wasn’t a bad pitch. It was a good swing that Hays put on it and deposited it into the right field stands.

We could dwell on the offense coming up small time and again for Wheeler, missing out on opportunities to make the game a little less tight with men in scoring position, but a double by Kyle Schwarber, another hit off a lefty, and a no doubt home run by Bryson Stott gave Wheeler the backing he needed to get the victory.

No, this game was about Wheeler.

I’ll pause here to acknowledge the obvious: calling Wheeler the best pitcher in baseball is an arguable position. Tarik Skubal would like a word. Paul Skenes and Logan Webb are there right with them as well.

What Wheeler does is just dominate as he is needed for a team that frequently needs it. It’s the keeping the pitch count low by inducing weak contact. It’s getting the strikeout when it is needed. It’s throwing a fastball with a little bit more giddy-up after the umpire misses a pitch. It’s all the stuff that an Ace does when his team needs it. Keeping the bullpen fresh before a cross country trip and a game the next day? That’s one of those little things that an Ace does that goes unnoticed in a box score, but means the world to the clubhouse.

So I’ll stick with my point: Zack Wheeler is the best pitcher in the game today.

Today was a good day.