PHILADELPHIA — Is Zack Wheeler’s foot really coming off the rubber before he pitches the ball?
Well, it depends who you ask — or, perhaps, which camera angle you use.
“I know there was a little bit of back and forth today between [pitching coach] Caleb [Cotham] and MLB,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said Saturday afternoon. “They sent him a pitch that they thought he was off [the rubber], and then [Caleb] sends the exact same pitch from a different angle that looks like he’s on.”
And therein lies the issue.
The Phillies fully acknowledge that there are camera angles from which it appears Wheeler’s pivot foot slides too far to the first-base side of the mound as he begins his windup. But they also insist that other angles show Wheeler’s foot maintaining contact with the front corner of the rubber on those same pitches.
Wheeler, currently in his 12th big league season, had never had anyone question his delivery until approximately six weeks ago. Following the club’s June 21 game against the Mets, the Phillies received communication from MLB that suggested Wheeler was not maintaining contact with the pitcher’s plate on some of his pitches.
“I threw one TV game earlier this year, and I guess MLB thought I was off the rubber,” Wheeler said. “But we have the data that showed that I was on.”
Wheeler says he’s on. The Phillies say he’s on. The Blue Jays thought he was off.
“Like I said yesterday, I’ve got all the respect in the world for Zack and his career, and obviously Donnie,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said on Saturday. “The last thing I’m ever going to try to do is pick a fight or stir [stuff] up that isn’t deserving.
“It was just kind of what we were seeing, and I just wanted to make sure that it was within the rules. That was it.”
Obviously, if Wheeler’s back foot is indeed drifting completely off the side of the mound, it would not be within the rules. The rulebook defines an illegal pitch as “a pitch delivered to the batter when the pitcher does not have his pivot foot in contact with the pitcher’s plate.”
An illegal pitch with runners on base is considered a balk. If nobody is on base, the pitch would be ruled a ball, unless the hitter records a hit on the pitch, in which case the play can stand.
So with that in mind, Schneider approached home-plate umpire John Tumpane between innings early in the game.
“I told John, ‘Hey, with all due respect here to Zack and Donnie and the Phils, this is what we’re seeing and I just want to make sure that everything’s good,’ and he said, ‘OK, I’ll relay the message,'” Schneider said. “John then called me out after the top of the second and said, ‘I’m looking for it, but no one else can see it.'”
One thing everyone can agree on is it’s hard to pick up in real-time. But even when reviewing video, certain angles can be deceiving.
The Phillies’ center-field camera sits more to the third-base side than a lot of other ballparks. So it’s not hard to capture a screenshot from that offset angle that makes it look as if Wheeler’s foot is not in contact with the rubber.
Obviously, though, a camera angle from behind the mound and to the third-base side of the rubber is not ideal when trying to determine if the tip of Wheeler’s foot is touching the front of the rubber on the first-base side. That’s why the Phillies insist they are confident that Wheeler is fully in compliance.
“Our guys have looked at it and had conversations with MLB,” Mattingly said. “Basically talking about how the angle of our center-field camera makes it look like he’s off, but when they show the overhead [angle], he’s on.”
Keep in mind, nobody is suggesting that Wheeler is pitching from in front of the rubber. The contention is not that he’s trying to gain an advantage by getting closer to home plate, though pitching from too far to either side of the rubber could also create an advantage.
“Hitters are so programmed and hitting is so hard these days, with different arm angles and different ways guys are throwing and attacking,” Schneider said. “I think it just turns into an angle coming in at you that you haven’t seen, and then it’s hard to adjust in real time.”
Either way, don’t expect to see Wheeler making any changes when he takes the mound on Wednesday in St. Louis.
“I’m gonna keep doing what I do,” Wheeler said. “I’ve been pitching over there forever, and I’m gonna keep doing it.”
