New York Mets right-hander Zack Wheeler resumed throwing on Monday at the team’s complex in Port St. Lucie, Florida and “felt fine” assistant GM John Ricco told reporters. (ESPN New York)
Wheeler threw for the first time after dodging a scare and receiving a cortisone injection for nerve pain in his pitching arm last week in New York.
Ricco said the organization will not rush Wheeler back in light of the elbow issue with left-hander Steven Matz, and it appears likely that Wheeler won’t reach the majors until at least August now, although the team has not released a revised timetable.
“With a guy like Zack Wheeler, we’re not going to rush him back from Tommy John surgery,” Ricco said. “We have to take that process as its own. Certainly we’re trying to win. And we’re going to do everything we can to win. But to think we would accelerate that for a guy coming back from a pretty serious operation, I don’t think would be smart.”
Doctors initially feared that Wheeler may have done serious damage to his surgically repaired elbow, but were relieved after an exam in New York revealed only nerve irritation.
Wheeler had his Tommy John surgery in late March of 2015 and had a smaller additional procedure at the time to repair a forearm tendon, which added on a few months to his rehab time. He also underwent a very minor surgery in April to remove an undissolved stitch.
Wheeler, the second of the Mets’ five stud pitching prospects (after Matt Harvey) to arrive in Flushing, went 18-16 with a 3.50 ERA, a 1.34 WHIP and 271 strikeouts in his first 285 big-league innings after being called up in the middle of 2013. He pitched a full year in 2014 but missed the entire 2015 campaign.
