New York Mets right-hander Zack Wheeler will begin the season with Triple-A Las Vegas, the team announced on Saturday.
The 27-year-old went 0-1 with a 8.10 ERA over five games (four started) for the Mets this spring. He also had an alarming 8.10 ERA over 10.0 innings pitched.
Wheeler said it was hard to take in when he received the news because he had become so accustomed to the grind of the majors, but will head to the minors to work on fine tuning his mechanics.
“I really haven’t proved myself this spring,” Wheeler said. “I sort of saw this coming, but I was hoping that it wouldn’t. It kind of is a surprise, but at the same time, I didn’t do much to help my cause.”
Wheeler was roughed up in his final start of the spring Thursday, the same game in which Seth Lugo threw four dominant innings in relief.
Lugo will now likely start the year as the Mets No. 5 starter with Wheeler being sent to the minors and Jason Vargas still on the shelf.
So for now, the dream of the “Fab Five” pitching together in the same rotation won’t come to fruition. While this isn’t the last we see of Wheeler, at this point, it’s hard to imagine they will this year.
