Wheeler wins NL Comeback Player of the Year; Luzardo, Sanchez also honored

Courtesy of PHL17

Late Wednesday night, Major League Baseball announced that Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler was awarded the Comeback Player of the Year for the National League.

Wheeler rebounded from a diagnosis of a blood clot and then thoracic outlet syndrome in late August 2025, to post a record of 14-5 with an ERA of 3.00 over 162 innings across 28 starts for the Phils last season. Prior to the issues which prematurely ended his '25 campaign, the 36-year-old Georgia native finished 10-5 with a 2.71 ERA and a complete game over 149 2/3 innings in 24 starts.

Last season, Wheeler also eclipsed the career 2,000-strikeout milestone. 

Heading into his 13th major-league season and eighth with Philadelphia, Wheeler has compiled an 83-42 record, 2.92 ERA, 1,287 strikeouts over 1,141 innings through 185 appearances (all starts). 

In addition, the head baseball entity announced lefty hurlers Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo were named first team and second team all-MLB seletions, respectively.

Sanchez, who put together one of the longest scoreless streaks in modern baseball history early in the season, ended up with major-league bests of 18 wins and one complete-game shutout while leading the NL in starts with 33. He also fanned 231 batters over 207 innings en route to finishing second in Cy Young voting to sophomore phenom Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Luzardo wound up with a 14-5 record, 2.86 ERA and 221 Ks with one shutout over 179.2 innings last season. The native of Peru, who was raised in south Florida, has won 29 games across his two seasons with the Phillies.

Phils closer Jhoan Duran was the runner-up to Reliever of the Year in the senior circuit