Right-handed pitcher Zack Wheeler has made the New York Mets rotation to begin the season. He will start the fourth game of the season against the Miami Marlins on April 7.
Wheeler has pitched 12.1 innings and struck out seven this spring. He has a 5.11 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP in that span.
However, in his last spring outing Wheeler hit 97 MPH with his fastball in his last outing and showed off an improved breaking ball in five shutout innings against the Miami Marlins.
“I think today I proved that I am ready,” Wheeler said after that start. “I knew today was a big day for me. I did the best that I could and we’ll leave it up to them and what they want to do, where they want to go and how they want to handle it.”
Wheeler, 26, will be making his first major league start since September, 25, 2014 against the Washington Nationals. Wheeler has missed the past two seasons following Tommy John surgery.
Mets assistant general manager John Ricco said that Zack Wheeler will have a yet-to-be-determined innings limit during the coming season. “There’s going to be some number but we don’t exactly know what that is yet.”
In 2014, Wheeler went 11-11 with a 3.54 ERA and 1.33 WHIP with 187 strikeouts in 185.1 innings. He is expected to be on an innings limit of around 125 this season.
The Mets rotation currently is Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Wheeler and Robert Gsellman. Syndergaard will come back to pitch the fifth game of the season and Gsellman the sixth.
