The wheels are in motion for the Phillies.
Zack Wheeler's next step in his return from the thoracic outlet decompression surgery he had last September will be to make a rehab start for Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Saturday, per Phillies Nation's Ty Daubert:
Zack Wheeler will make a three-inning rehab appearance at Lehigh Valley on Saturday. Phillies will start the 30-day clock to return this weekend.
The initial estimates after Wheeler's surgery was that the recovery timeline would be six to eight months. Considering Wheeler underwent the procedure on Sept. 23, he's certainly appears to be trending towards the front of that timeline, with Thursday marking six months since the surgery. As noted in Daubert's tweet, unless there's a setback, Wheeler will have to be back with the Phillies at some point in the next month after they start his rehab clock Saturday.
Rob Thomson's rotation to open the season will be Cristopher Sánchez, Aaron Nola, Jesús Luzardo, Taijuan Walker and Andrew Painter. Presumably, Walker will get bumped to the bullpen when Wheeler is ready to return, though that assumes all five of the current starters are healthy and that Painter doesn't look in over his head early in his MLB career.
