Two weeks left to determine how to manage hurler after two years of rehab
PORT ST. LUCIE — Sunny day. Cloudy forecast.
What ’s next for Zack Wheeler? A Grapefruit League start Monday. And after t hat, the great unknown for the man whose future has been on hold for two years now.
The long-inactive right-hander threw three up-and-down relief innings for the Mets on Wednesday, taking the loss as the Marlins prevailed in a 15-9 slugfest at a bright and shiny First Data Field. You could understand if Mets officials came away from this performance more torn about Whee ler ’s April assignment than they were before it. Every option — putting him in the rotation, placing him in the bullpen and keeping him in extended spring training — should remain on the table at this juncture.
“It’s up to those guys,” Wheeler said, referring to the Mets’ brain trust. “I’m trying to get out of each outing healthy, build my pitch count up and we go from there.”
He professed that he felt f ine after giving up four runs on four hits and three walks while striking out one, and his velocity backed him up. His fastball came in mostly at 95 to 96 mph, and he threw a few heaters that registered 97. His pitch count increased to 65.
Yet as manager Terr y Collins said, speaking generally of his pitching staff: “We’ve got to start honing in on the command of stuff. When we get that, then I think we’re on the right track.”
Wheeler did not exhibit exemplary command, to be polite. He gave up a pair of eighthinning homers, to Tyler Moore and Ramon Cabrera, who didn’t play in the majors last year. Both blasts came on fastballs. Even in his best inning, the seventh, when he faced just four batters and didn’t allow a run, Wheeler walked non-roster invite Moises Sierra on five pitches.
“It’ s not the results that I wanted, obviously ,” Wheeler said .“But that’ s what spring training’s for.”
Spring training also is for making concrete decisions on how you want to kick off your season, and Wheeler, after missing the prior two campaigns due to Tommy John surgery in March 2015, pre - sented an interesting case from the beginning. Would he require more time to build up his endurance and refine his stuff ? How would his ceiling of approximately 120 innings, as prescribed by the Mets, factor
into the decision-making process?
He has swerved far away from the worst-case scenario, which especially encourages if you remember that he felt tenderness in his surgically repaired right elbow following a bullpen session in February. However, the best-case scenario of game excellence isn’t particularly close, either. Wheeler now owns an 8. 59 ERA in three appearances totaling 7 ¹/₃ innings, with five walks and four strikeouts.
With Jeurys Familia’s domestic-violence suspension set to be announced before the start of the season, placing Wheeler in the bullpen as a long reliever merits serious consideration. The Mets have to take the long view and realize that, even if Wheeler spends the entire year in the bullpen and re-establishes his health and ceiling in the process, they still would have two years left before his free agency to utilize him as a starter.
The downside of keeping Wheeler back in Florida is, do you risk having him waste bullets in extended springtraining action? The upside comes in allowing him more time to refine his stuff.
If Wheeler can make a big leap in the preseason’s duration, possible given that command can come more quickly than arm strength, then the Mets should consider striking while the iron is hot and letting the 26-yearold work as a starter. Collins referred to Wheeler as “a special case” who quickly could leapfrog over his top competitor, Robert Gsellman.
Sorry for the confusion here. It is a muddy, muddled situation, one that need not be resolved for another week and a half. Kudos to Wheeler, who has missed all of the fun of two straight Mets postseason berths, for working his way back into the conversation. He has a little more time to simplify the conversation, for better or worse, for everyone.