Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler on injured list with blood clot in right arm

The Philadelphia Phillies placed ace Zack Wheeler on the 15-day injured list Saturday with a blood clot in his right arm.

Dave Dombrowski, the team's president of baseball operations, said following Saturday's 2-0 loss to the hometown Washington Nationals that Wheeler had been diagnosed with a "right upper extremity blood clot."

"There's not a lot that we can say on it at this time," said Dombrowski, who commended doctors for finding the clot. "It could have been a much more trying situation than it is."

Phillies head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit said Wheeler had been feeling better after some right shoulder soreness caused him to push back a start earlier this month. But that changed Friday.

"He felt a little heaviness," Buchheit said. "So, the doctors here were great in helping to diagnose and expedite that diagnosis this morning."

Buchheit said he didn't think Wheeler's present condition had anything to do with his previous stiffness. He said there is a wide variety of treatments available but declined to get into specifics.

Dombrowski said Wheeler would be evaluated further in Philadelphia.

Wheeler pitched for the National League East leaders on Friday and was limited to five innings for the second consecutive start. The right-hander allowed two runs and four hits at Washington.

The 35-year-old Wheeler, who made his third all-star team last month, is 10-5 with a 2.71 earned-run average in 24 starts this season. He has a major league-high 195 strikeouts in 149 2/3 innings. He has thrown at least 192 innings in three of the previous four seasons.

Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber said it was most important to get Wheeler back healthy.

"It's a scary situation, right? … Just want to get him back in here and hear from him," Schwarber said. "Hopefully it's not going to be too serious. Get him in here and get him healthy.

"You know, baseball is baseball, and when it comes to someone's health like that, we need him healthy first. You know, he's got a family, so we want to get him feeling good for them and get him back to speed whenever we can."

The Phillies will activate right-hander Aaron Nola from the injured list to start Sunday against the Nationals. Philadelphia planned to go to a six-man rotation with Nola's return, but instead will stick with a conventional five-man approach.

"Because we're adding Nola tomorrow, everybody's getting sort of getting an extra day," manager Rob Thomson said. "Then we have an off day [Thursday], and we get another extra day. We're in good shape and that's why you have depth."

"We don't know the timeline," Thomson said. "I'm thinking a lot about Zack and his family, because it's not a hamstring injury or something like that. But I feel good about the depth that we have. If we have to go to a sixth, it could be [prospect Andrew] Painter. It could be somebody else. We just have to carry on."