Per Matt Ehalt of The Record, Mets starting pitcher Zack Wheeler said that he and the Mets have not talked about a contract extension. He is due to hit free agency after the 2019 season.

Wheeler, 28, broke out in a big way in 2018. He finished the season with a 12-7 record, 3.31 ERA, 3.25 FIP, and 1.124 WHIP across 29 starts. He struck out 179 batters and walked 55 in 182.1 innings, good for a 3.25 K/BB ratio.

He had an incredible second half of the season, better than pretty much anyone. On July 13, he was 2-6 with a 4.42 ERA. Over the course of his last 12 starts, he would go 10-1 with a 1.96 ERA across 82.2 innings. In that one loss, he went seven innings and allowed one run on four hits, striking out nine and walking none. His only no-decision in that span came on August 20 when he allowed one run on five hits over seven innings again, this time striking out 10 and walking one — The Mets lost 7-0.

After not appearing in a single Major League game in 2015 or 2016, and making only 17 underwhelming starts in 2017, Wheeler seems to have finally realized the potential the Mets saw in him when they traded future Hall of Famer Carlos Beltran for him in July of 2011. With other young starters like Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Steven Matz still under team control through the 2020 season at least, it will be interesting to see if the Mets choose to extend Wheeler after 2019.