Right-hander Zack Wheeler stopped by and visited with his teammates in Atlanta on Friday as they began a weekend series with the Braves.
Wheeler, who is in the recovery phase of his return from Tommy John surgery, told reporters he expects to start throwing a baseball next month.
For now he’s been doing a lot of running and conditioning exercises while he rehabs at the team’s complex in Port St. Lucie.
“I’ve been basically just doing upper-body and lower-body lifts,” Wheeler said. “That’s really about it. Just running, lifting. Same thing every day, so it’s starting to get kind of old.”
“Hopefully, when I pick up a ball, it’ll start moving a little bit faster and change some things up every once in a while.”
Wheeler is still on target for a return around June or July of next season and was in good spirits. He says he’s been following the team to occupy his time.
“I’ll sit there and watch them basically every night because I have nothing else to do down there in Florida,” Wheeler said. “Looks like we’re playing well, and hopefully, we can keep it up.” (MLB.com)
“He’s fun to be around,” said manager Terry Collins,” so it’s nice that they could let him get out of Florida for a vacation; bring that 93-degree stuff up here.”
During last night’s broadcast, Ron Darling reflected on how special the Mets rotation will be come next year’s All Star break, potentially boasting five young hard-throwers in Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz, Noah Syndergaard and Wheeler.
“The National League will be in for a rude awakening having to face that group next season.”
