PUSHIN’ TO LIMIT
Mets re-thinking Zack plan, considering extending righty
Command remains an issue for Zack Wheeler, preventing him from getting deep into games, yet he is pitching with dominance in every start lately. To which Terry Collins no doubt would love to say: “Innings limits? Who said anything about innings limits?” Yes, the Mets are surely wishing they’d never discussed the issue so publicly during spring training, as Wheeler has emerged as such a vital cog to their hope of saving their season from early extinction. On Saturday night Wheeler threw five shutout innings before appearing to run out of steam, sandwiching two walks and a hit batter around a bloop single, forcing Collins to pull him at 99 pitches with a 4-1 lead. That left a lot of work for the beleaguered
bullpen, but on this night Fernando Salas pitched out of Wheeler’s jam, and skipped-starter Robert Gsellman delivered two scoreless innings before Addison Reed survived a hairy ninth in a 7-5 win over the Angels. So mostly strong pitching has produced two straight wins after that hideous seven-game losing streak, and the Mets are going to need a lot more of it to get back into contention for a wild-card berth, never mind put any pressure on the Nationals. Wheeler is a big part of any such scenario. And even though he was far from sharp on Saturday night, walking five hitters, five scoreless innings is five scoreless innings — even if the Angels aren’t exactly a juggernaut offensively, save for Mike Trout. Furthermore, this was the first time Wheeler had allowed more than one earned run since April 23rd, or four starts ago. The point is, as Collins admitted before the game, the Mets need Wheeler for the foreseeable future, to the point where they can’t worry about trying to save innings and extend his season. “We have worry about tonight and the next few starts,’’ said Collins, “because Zack has gotten to the point where he’s one of the guys we’re relying on. He’s come that fast. “So we can’t worry about July. Right now he’s a key part of this so we’re going to send him out there and ride him. When the time comes when we think he needs to be stopped, that’ll be a decision a lot of people will be involved in. But right now he’s one of the horses we’ve gotta ride to get us on the right track.” I f Wheeler continues to pitch at a high level, you can be sure the Mets will find a way to give him more leash than they said originally, out of concern that he missed two full seasons after Tommy John surgery.
There was no getting around answering questions about innings limits, but at the very least they shouldn’t have put a number on it back in February. First pitching coach Dan Warthen said Wheeler’s innings total would be somewhere in the “low 100s,’’ and GM Sandy Alderson later raised the bar a bit to “around 125.”
At the time the Mets were thinking there was a good chance they’d keep Wheeler in extended spring training and have him start the season several weeks late, so the innings limit wouldn’t force them to shut him down early.
Of course, that was before injuries to Steven Matz and Seth Lugo gave them little choice but to change the plans for Wheeler, and, as Collins said, the righthander has given them more than they might have expected early in the season after missing so much time. So where is all of this heading? Some of it depends on Matz and Lugo, who Collins said could each be only a couple of more rehab starts from being ready to rejoin the Mets.
And some of it depends on Wheeler. He has now thrown 43 1/3 innings, though the way the Mets calculate such things, his high number of pitches-per-inning make that total higher in reality. Still, if he continues to pitch well, and the Mets need him, I’m sure they’ll find a way to readjust the innings limit. After all, there are no absolutes in setting these numbers, as Collins has said more than once in dealing with injury prevention of his pitchers.
In 2014 Wheeler threw 185 1/3 innings, so after missing two seasons, is it out of the question that he could at least approach that number again?
Remember, after all the controversy over Matt Harvey’s innings-limit in 2015, after he missed more than a full season from Tommy John surgery, he wound up throwing 216 innings, including the post-season, well above his previous high of 178 1/3 innings. So, in truth, an innings limit is whatever a team deems reasonable.
The Mets aren’t going to be irresponsible regarding Wheeler. They’ll monitor him carefully, especially as his inning total climbs above 100, and if he’s not showing signs of fatigue, who’s to say they would be wrong in letting him go past 150…160? They just shouldn’t have told the world they planned to stop him much sooner.