Phillies' Zack Wheeler dealing with blood clot in right arm; retired MLB team physician weighs in

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Philadelphia Phillies star Zack Wheeler was placed on the 15-day injured list on Saturday night as the team revealed he had a "right upper extremity blood clot."

The details of Wheeler's injury were scant on Saturday night.

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Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies' president of baseball operations, said there wasn't a lot of information to give about Wheeler's issue, but it would be evaluated further in Philadelphia. Paul Buchheit, the team's head athletic trainer, said Wheeler experienced "heaviness" in his arm and that doctors were called upon to properly diagnose Wheeler. 

It's unclear whether the clot was in an artery or a vein.

Dr. Michael Jacobs, a retired team physician who previously worked for the Baltimore Orioles, explained to Fox News Digital on Sunday that, regardless of where the clot is located, it is a dangerous situation for Wheeler that needed to be dealt with immediately.

"The treatment of these gets to be a real problem," he said. "I've dealt with baseball players who've had this and sometimes when a small artery gets pinched or clotted off, they actually just get rid of the artery and your body does OK - they tie it off.

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"Sometimes if it's your axillary artery, they can either try to remove the clot by basically sending a wired device down there and opening it up like a stent would do on people who have heart disease."

Jacobs said if it's a vein issue, Wheeler could have the clot lysed. However, Wheeler would likely need to go on blood thinners if it's successfully cleared.

"The problem is, in order to safely try to get back to where you want to be, No. 1, you have to get effective blood thinners for usually 4 to 8 to 12 (weeks) to three months to keep the blood vessels open.

"So, if you're on high-test blood thinners, we certainly could not clear anybody to play being on that kind of blood thinner."

The Phillies have yet to say how long Wheeler will be out. The team recalled Aaron Nola for Sunday's game against the Washington Nationals.

Wheeler was an All-Star for the third time in his career this season. He has a 2.71 ERA with a league-leading 195 strikeouts. He threw 95 pitches against the Nationals on Friday in five innings.

The Phillies started Sunday on top of the National League East - five games up on the New York Mets.

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