Zack Wheeler’s season should consist of about 28 more innings, an insider told ESPN New York, and whether that gets Wheeler through the remainder of the season remains to be seen.
Adam Rubin adds that if the Mets operated with a five-man rotation, Wheeler’s turn would come up five times in September — meaning he would need to average less than six innings per outing to complete the season. Being more successful and going deeper into games would shut him down early.
Wheeler is currently at 151.2 innings after tossing 149 innings last season.
Also, Terry Collins said the Mets will not be “extra conservative” with Wheeler in light of what happened to Harvey, saying that basically when your elbow goes, it goes.
“I don’t care what you do,” he said. “You can’t stop it.”
Incredible…
What’s the word you would use to describe Collin’s philosophy on protecting young pitchers?
Original Post 9/1
I missed most of last night’s 7-3 win over the Washington Nationals, but managed to catch Zack Wheeler spin some magic in the rebroadcast.
What a ROAD WARRIOR…
The kid is now 5-0 on the road for the Mets, with a 2.19 ERA and .217 BAA in 49.1 innings spanning eight starts.
He’s been pretty remarkable for the Mets and down-right nasty in his last five starts. In 32.1 innings, the young righty has allowed just six walks while striking out 31. Overall, Wheeler is 7-3 with a 3.34 ERA in his rookie season.
Manager Terry Collins saw fit to give the youngster yet another nice pat on the back after the game and told him to stop crying about how tired he is after every start.
“He’s the one who came in after the sixth inning and said, ‘I want to go back out there.’ And I said, ‘Then stop telling everybody you’re tired and go back out there.”
He toned down his criticism and offered some praise, perhaps just realizing all the voice recorders were turned on…
“But that shows you that no matter what he says, this guy competes. Don’t ever let his personality let you think he doesn’t compete on that mound. This guy was angry with the inning before and wanted to go back out there and finish it off.”
This is the second time in a month, that Collins has felt the need to share his unique motivational practices regarding Wheeler with the media.
We at MMO appreciate it as we could all use a good chuckle now and then.
On a more serious note, our young phenom has now thrown 151.1 innings combined this season and is about 2-3 starts away from being shutdown for the season. Good.
What I wanted to see most of all from Wheeler after his promotion, was two things; throw strikes and look like you belong…
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
