Las Vegas manager Wally Backman believes Zack Wheeler‘s big league promotion could be about two weeks away, according to a report by Adam Rubin on ESPN New York. “Personally, I think if he has a couple of more starts like his last start he’ll be headed to the big leagues, and rightfully so,” Backman told Las Vegas’ ESPN radio affiliate. We’ll have our Las Vegas beat writer Rob Silverman on hand Saturday when Wheeler takes the mound [...]

Zack Wheeler is a name we have all heard a lot lately. Probably too much, actually. But it’s a name I expect Mets fans will hear plenty more of over the coming years. Wheeler, the Mets’ top pitching prospect, is currently at Triple-A Las Vegas as he continues to work on control issues before he gets that anticipated call to join the Mets. Although most knew he was headed for the minors to start the [...]

Baseball is such a great sport. There is something for everyone, offense, defense, strategy, statistics, history and pitching. I’ll take a well pitched game over a slugfest any day. When you look at the Washington Nationals starting rotation, you just got to love what you see: Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez (one of my favorites), Jordan Zimmermann, and Dan Haren. This is a team with the potential go on a super long winning streak. Looking at [...]

Baseball 101: Regardless of the level of play, if a pitcher walks too many batters he will be beaten. It is a baseball fundamental understood by everybody, with the exception of those insisting the Mets bring up Zack Wheeler, who walked six hitters in his last start. The clamoring is getting louder in the wake of the Mets’ continued problems with the back end of their rotation. Maybe Dillon Gee, he of the 0-3 record and 8.36 ERA, [...]

Updated Post 4/23 A day after publishing my post calling for the promotion of Collin McHugh to the Mets (which you can read below), I took some flack the following day when he had a less than stellar outing for Triple-A Las Vegas against Colorado Springs.   Original Post 4/21 Laffey or McHugh? Laffey or McHugh? Laffey or McHugh? Remember when I wrote that as a caption to the picture on the left back in [...]

One of the most revealing things about the Mets’ 7-6 loss to the Nationals today, is that they are 7-1 this season when Jon Niese and Matt Harvey start, and 1-7 when they turn to Dillon Gee, Jeremy Hefner and Aaron Laffey. That says a lot, doesn’t it? Today’s sacrificial lamb was 26-year old Jeremy Hefner who made a quick exit lasting only four innings and allowing four earned runs on four hits, three walks and a [...]

Terry Collins told Mike Francesa on WFAN on Wednesday, that they might consider calling Zack Wheeler up to the Major Leagues to make his debut, if the back end of the rotation doesn’t improve soon. Jeremy Hefner, Dillon Gee and Aaron Laffey – You’ve all been warned. Or maybe not. Collins also said yesterday that it was unclear when exactly Wheeler might be called up. “Wheeler could be an option soon? I wouldn’t say soon,” Collins said to reporters. [...]

Updated by HoJo on 4/16 Mets manager Terry Collins said he did not plan to disrupt the throwing schedule for Matt Harvey regardless of postponements in Denver. So Harvey continues to be in line for Friday’s game against the Washington Nationals, who are expected to start Stephen Strasburg in the series opener at Citi Field. Original Post by Ed Leyro on 4/15 Matt Harvey almost made history on Saturday for the Mets, coming within seven [...]

I was on the phone with Joe D. as I was driving to the park and he asks me if I think they’ll get the game in? I look out my window, light snow showers, “I think so,” I tell him. “Just some light snow at the moment.” I hadn’t been off the phone for more than 30 seconds when the snow got harder, then it started doing something that I think they call sleet, [...]

Updated on 4/11 by HoJo According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, Shaun Marcum is expected to throw two innings of a simulated game before the weekend as he attempts to get ready to comeback from a neck injury and bicep tendinitis. If all goes well without any setbacks, Marcum could appear in a rehab game with Single-A St. Lucie one day next week. Depending on how that goes, Marcum could then be activated from the [...]

Starting Lineup Collin Cowgill CF Daniel Murphy 2B David Wright 3B John Buck C Marlon Byrd RF Lucas Duda LF Justin Turner 1B Ruben Tejada SS Dillon Gee RHP Game Notes The Mets have hit at least one home run in each of their first seven games, the longest such stretch to open a season since the 1987 team opened the season with a home run in their first eight contests. This current streak is tied [...]