For Wheel of good fortune

“As you saw, he threw today and he felt good after he threw,” Terry Collins said, adding that he understood why it became news. “It’s legitimate obviously because of the past two years, there is always a concern.

“It was the first time in two years he got on the mound (with the rest of the rotation) and I thought he had to start exerting himself a little bit and so his elbow is a little flared up,” Collins said. “He took some anti-inflammatories, felt a lot better today and we’re hoping that tomorrow he can throw off the mound.”

The Mets have four pitchers who are coming back from season-ending surgeries, including Wheeler, whose 2015 season was stopped in March of 2015 when he had Tommy John.

It is unusual for a pitcher to take two years to come back from Tommy John surgery, with the normal recovery time ranging from 13 to 18 months. Wheeler’s rehab has been fraught with setbacks. Initially expecting to be back in the major league rotation in the middle of the 2016 season, Wheeler was shut down from throwing at least three times with issues.

So it was surprising to see the Mets officials publicly and privately claim they were not that concerned with this latest issue. Collins, however, said the team can do more than “wait and see,” but he isn’t sounding any alarm bells just yet.

“We don’t think it’s major yet,” Collins said. “Until we get into this a little farther, if he continues to have it in seven to 10 days then we got to re-examine it. But right now it’s general soreness.”