Since the start of the StatCast Era, there have only been 14 pitchers who have thrown 100 MPH in a game and hit a ball over 100 MPH. in a completely dominating performance on Monday, Wheeler would join that group.
On the mound, Wheeler pitched seven shutout innings against the Phillies walking none and striking out 11. As pointed out by MMO‘s Mathew Brownstein, Wheeler is just the ninth pitcher in Mets history to accomplish this feat. It should come as no surprise this list includes Mets greats like Tom Seaver, Dwight Gooden, Jacob deGrom, and Jerry Koosman.
But as noted, Wheeler was dominant not just on the mound, but also at the plate. Wheeler had two extra base hits including a homer which was tracked at 101.4 MPH. With the two extra base hit game, Wheeler became the first Mets pitcher to have two extra base hits in a game since Noah Syndergaard‘s two home run game against the Dodgers in 2016.
In this performance, we were reminded of the Wheeler of the second half of last year. That Wheeler had a 1.68 ERA, which was actually lower than deGrom’s second half ERA last year. In that second half, we saw Wheeler pitch like an ace, and on Monday night we saw Wheeler pitch like an ace.
After all, you expect your ace to go on the mound and snap losing streaks. You expect them to dominate lineups with hitters like Andrew McCutchen, Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, and Rhys Hoskins. You expect them to beat the best teams in your division. With Wheeler stepping up and pitching like the ace we all know he can be, his 100-100 performance is the Neon Moment of the Week!
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