{"id":125666,"date":"2026-07-12T16:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T20:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=125666"},"modified":"2026-07-12T16:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T20:00:13","slug":"zack-wheeler-mlb-all-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/07\/12\/zack-wheeler-mlb-all-star\/","title":{"rendered":"What Really Upset Zack Wheeler About MLB\u2019s All-Star Decision and How Will It Affect Him?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 Major League Baseball All-Star Game is just two days away, and players are gearing up to represent their league. The Philadelphia Phillies have six players representing the National League in the All-Star Game. Unfortunately, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wheelza01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zack Wheeler<\/a> will not be joining his teammates <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/marshbr02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Marsh<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/luzarje01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jes\u00fas Luzardo<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sanchcr01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cristopher S\u00e1nchez<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/schwaky01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Schwarber<\/a>, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/harpebr03.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bryce Harper<\/a>, and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranjh01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jhoan Duran<\/a> this time. Wheeler had the opportunity to be the seventh Phillies star, but declined.<\/p>\n<p class=\"alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBTciSVahK\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 3072px; aspect-ratio: 3072\/2048;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<h2>Why Was Zack Wheeler Upset With the MLB?<\/h2>\n<p>Wheeler is a three-time All-Star. He appeared in back-to-back All-Star games in 2024 and 2025. Sadly, the veteran pitcher was not on the team&#8217;s initial list this year. Several players have been replaced for this season&#8217;s All-Star Game. <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/herreiv01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Iv\u00e1n Herrera<\/a> of the St. Louis Cardinals <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/07\/10\/ohtani-out-of-all-star\/\" target=\"_self\">replaced Shohei Ohtani<\/a>, along with many other players who cannot make it for various reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Wheeler was also called up as a replacement. The MLB had not mentioned who Wheeler was supposed to replace. However, the Phillies star was upset that the league made him their fifth choice. The right-handed pitcher felt that he was disrespected after being called as a backup. He further stated that the MLB had messed up, which is why he declined the invitation.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Zack Wheeler was approached by MLB to be an All-Star replacement but declined because he felt disrespected, per <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/charlottevarnes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@charlottevarnes<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cBLmmYHC2I\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/cBLmmYHC2I<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Talkin&#8217; Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TalkinBaseball_\/status\/2076033186216169622?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 11, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span>&#8220;I just don\u2019t want to be disrespected as a person.&#8221; &#8220;I take it very seriously.&#8221; &#8220;It\u2019s just me as a person, too.&#8221; &#8220;I felt like I said before \u2014 maybe I didn\u2019t earn it from the get-go, but maybe second choice.&#8221; &#8220;Once I feel like they kind of messed that up, I\u2019m out,&#8221; Zack Wheeler said as per The Athletic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Looking at his incredible numbers, it&#8217;s clear that Wheeler deserved to be an All-Star. He holds an outstanding 2.28 ERA with a 9-1 record. Wheeler just recovered from thoracic outlet decompression surgery. Despite taking the mound only in April, he&#8217;s proved that the surgery has not affected his performance.<\/p>\n<h2>How Will Zack Wheeler\u2019s Decision Affect Him?<\/h2>\n<p>The MLB doesn&#8217;t really punish players for declining to appear in an All-Star game. Wheeler stated his decision and communicated with the league. He also mentioned that participating in an All-Star game remains a privilege, and he&#8217;s not hating the event in particular.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_125695\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-125695\" style=\"width: 5947px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/USATSI_29350770.webp\" alt=\"Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Zack Wheeler before throwing a pitch vs the Cincinatti Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio on July 7, 2026.\" width=\"5947\" height=\"3965\" class=\"size-full wp-image-125695\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/USATSI_29350770.webp 5947w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/USATSI_29350770-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/USATSI_29350770-600x400.webp 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/07\/USATSI_29350770-1200x800.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 5947px) 100vw, 5947px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-125695\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jul 7, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) prepares to throw against the Cincinnati Reds in the seventh inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Wheeler&#8217;s comments certainly drew a lot of attention. Fans have mixed reactions, with some supporting his decision while others criticize it. Wheeler&#8217;s decision is unlikely to affect his career or future with the MLB. He remains one of the league&#8217;s top pitchers, and teams prioritize performance over All-Star participation.<\/p>\n<p>The All-Star selection is split among fans, players, and the Commissioner&#8217;s Office. Wheeler&#8217;s chance of becoming an All-Star in the future remains in the hands of fans.<\/p>\n<h2>Wheeler\u2019s Teammates React to His Rejection<\/h2>\n<p>Phillies stars have opened up on the situation by offering their support to Wheeler. Many were surprised when he failed to make the All-Star list at first. Wheeler looks at his invitation as a &#8220;Pity Party.&#8221; Sanchez also feels the same way, stating that the MLB needs to fix it.<\/p>\n<p>Sanchez stated he was in the same situation last year, and he believes that Wheeler is an All-Star. Phillies catcher <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/realmjt01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">J.T. Realmuto<\/a> also stated that it was a mistake, especially with what Wheeler is doing after his surgery. Most of the Phillies&#8217; stars were surprised to learn that Wheeler was not on the list.<\/p>\n<p>Wheeler is scheduled to pitch on Sunday before the All-Star game. The MLB added <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wroblju01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Justin Wrobleski<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/grifffo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Foster Griffin<\/a> to the NL All-Star list after Wheeler declined his invitation. The 36-year-old will continue to play a vital role for the Phillies as they fight for the playoff race. Philadelphia is also <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/07\/11\/phillies-trade-rumors\/\" target=\"_self\">expected to make a couple of moves<\/a> ahead of the trade deadline.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 Major League Baseball All-Star Game is just two days away, and players are gearing up to represent their league. The Philadelphia Phillies have six players representing the National League in the All-Star Game. Unfortunately, Zack Wheeler will not be joining his teammates Brandon Marsh, Jes\u00fas Luzardo, Cristopher S\u00e1nchez, Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5080,"featured_media":125694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1071,35,23],"tags":[28342,315,28573,6415,469,3425,4264,28621,2178,683],"class_list":["post-125666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","category-news","category-phillies","tag-brandon-marsh","tag-bryce-harper","tag-cristopher-sanchez","tag-ivan-herrera","tag-j-t-realmuto","tag-jesus-luzardo","tag-jhoan-duran","tag-justin-wrobleski","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-zack-wheeler"],"modified_by":"Augustus Oswald, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5080"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125666"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125696,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125666\/revisions\/125696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}