2018 is coming to a close in a few days and, as a result, we here at Metsmerized Online would like to acknowledge some of the achievements by the team during this past season.

With that being said, Zack Wheeler is the Mets best comeback story of the 2018 season.

When Sandy Alderson took the reigns as Mets’ general manager prior to the 2011 season, one of the biggest moves he made was shipping longtime Met Carlos Beltran off to the San Francisco Giants for a young right-hander Zack Wheeler.

Upon the acquisition, Wheeler was immediately viewed as the top prospect in a thin New York system.

While it was fellow right-hander Matt Harvey who burst on the scene first in 2012 and established himself as a future ace, Wheeler was predicted to be even better.

However, it didn’t pan out that way.

Wheeler debuted in 2013, and was decent the remainder of that year and through 2014, where he owned a 3.54 ERA and 3.55 FIP in 185.1 innings pitched.

Then disaster struck. Wheeler underwent Tommy John surgery prior to the 2015 season and wouldn’t pitch again until 2017.

Upon returning, Wheeler dealt with adversity most pitchers do after Tommy John. In return, he had a dismal season where he went 3-7 with a whopping 5.21 ERA in 17 starts. He ended the season on the disabled list with a stress reaction in his right arm.

In 2018, though, we finally saw the Wheeler we all expected when he was originally acquired in 2011.

The Smyrna, Georgia native finished the campaign with a 12-7 record, a 3.31 ERA, 3.25 FIP, 1.124 WHIP and 8.8 K/9. That doesn’t tell the whole story though.

The second half of the season, Wheeler was even more dominant than Jacob deGrom, who took home the National League Cy Young award.

In 11 starts post All-Star break, Wheeler held the opposition to a triple slash of .179/.237/.253 with just three home runs surrendered.

Prior to the All-Star break, Wheeler owned a 4.44 ERA in 18 starts. In his final 11, he had a 1.68 ERA and won nine out of ten decisions.

To see just how dominant he was in the second half, check out this video below:

We wish Zack all the best in 2019, and hope he can replicate his success from this past year!