Sources: Phillies, Wheeler agree to extension

Zack Wheeler has reached an agreement on an extension with the Philadelphia Phillies, according to sources, bypassing the possibility that the ace pitcher will become a free agent in the fall.

An announcement by the Phillies is expected Monday.

Wheeler, who is entering the final season of a five-year, $118 million contract, has had great success with the Phillies, a team that has doled out big money for stars in recent seasons — Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Aaron Nola and others. There has been a sense this spring that the right-hander and the team would work out another deal.

Wheeler, 33, has a 3.06 ERA in his first four seasons with Philadelphia — with an adjusted ERA+ of 137 — and has 675 strikeouts in 629⅓ innings. He led the major leagues in innings pitched in 2021 and won a Gold Glove Award last season.

Early in Wheeler’s tenure with Philadelphia, owner John Middleton rejected the notion that the Phillies would ever consider trading the right-hander, saying he wouldn’t deal him for Babe Ruth or Ted Williams. The front of the Phillies’ rotation appears set for years to come, with Wheeler and Nola now under contract in long-term deals, and with Ranger Suarez emerging as a high-end No. 3 starter.

Wheeler was the sixth overall pick in the draft in 2009, selected by the San Francisco Giants, and as he ascended among the best prospects in the game, he was coveted by other teams. The Giants, making a push for the postseason in 2011, traded him to the Mets for Carlos Beltran.

Wheeler pitched in five seasons for the Mets, missing the 2015 and 2016 seasons after tearing an elbow ligament and undergoing an elbow reconstruction.