For Now, We're Stuck with Zack Wheeler

NYPost.com:

Zack Wheeler had a forgettable return to the mound Friday, surrendering five earned runs over four innings on a brutally cold and windy night at Citi Field that had no semblance to the tropical paradise in which he had won his job this spring.

Wheeler’s fastball had early juice, but commanding his offspeed pitches was a challenge, and pretty soon the Marlins were jumping on his heat.

It’s a performance Wheeler should discard, right after he appreciates the fact he was back pitching for the Mets following two frustrating years of rehab from Tommy John surgery.

Not every comeback will be a success story from the start. Matt Harvey, returning from surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, was terrific in his 2017 debut a night earlier, but Wheeler is clearly at a different place.

“I wanted to come out here and dominate today,” Wheeler said after the Mets’ 7-2 loss. “Just put my foot that I’m back and I belong here. But something as small as controlling your offspeed [pitches], that is easy to fix. I’m not that down. It stinks that I lost, but it’s a long season and I will be better. ”

The worst thing a starting pitcher can do is not give his team a chance to win and give Zack Wheeler credit for owning up to that last night. And granted it's only one start that you hope he can learn from, but with Matz and Lugo down, it's extra emphasis on hoping for the best from Wheeler.

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Mets Add Zack Wheeler and Robert Gsellman to Rotation

NYTimes.com:

The Mets answered most of their lingering roster questions on Thursday, and in doing so gave a big morale boost to Zack Wheeler, who missed the past two seasons after Tommy John and forearm surgery and, at least for now, is in the starting rotation.

Sandy Alderson, the Mets’ general manager, told reporters in Port St. Lucie, Fla., that Wheeler and Robert Gsellman would form the back end of the rotation — behind Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey.

The Mets had been waiting for clarity on Steven Matz’s status to complete their pitching staff. After irritation and soreness in Matz’s throwing elbow persisted early this week, the Mets sent him for a magnetic resonance imaging examination. The results did not show structural damage, Alderson told reporters.

Personally, as a big Seth Lugo fan, I would've preferred hi min the rotation. But the WBC messed things up for Lugo's chances, Wheeler made it known he'd prefer to start and Gsellman's been sterling during spring rotation, so it is what it is. Either way I'm sure that Lugo will get his opportunity to be a regular starter soon enough.

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Mets Considering Zack Wheeler for Bullpen

ESPN.com:

Alderson plans to have Addison Reed slide into the closer role in Familia’s expected absence. The team potentially will add a couple of middle relievers, ideally on one-year deals.

“The first guy we signed was a two-year deal, and that didn’t work out,” Alderson said, referring to the Mets’ signing of D.J. Carrasco in December 2010, shortly after Alderson took over as GM.

 “We’ve had subsequent two-year deals that didn’t work out all that well. In fact, we have about one a year. That’s why I think we’ll be a little bit cautious, especially with that midrange.”

Alderson said the answer may be using some of the Mets’ starting-pitching depth in relief next season, assuming everyone is healthy. Alderson listed Zack Wheeler as a potential reliever, presumably with Robert Gsellman in the rotation. Wheeler has missed the past two seasons while dealing with setbacks from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in March 2015.

Alderson suggested Wheeler may be a suitable reliever because he throws hard, and bullpen work may “minimize whatever lack of control may exist.”

“There’s no reason for us to say, ‘Well, he’s got to be a starter,’” Alderson said. “Now, he may feel that way himself. But it may be that coming back after two years he’s better off pitching out of the pen. You might have to be careful. You might not be able to pitch him back-to-back [days]. It might have to be two innings at a time. These are all hypothetical at the moment. But I don’t see any reason to just eliminate that possibility.”

I like this idea. As long as Wheeler's been gone now and with the higher risk of aggravating his injury if he continues to be a starter, he could be the in-house answer to the bullpen help the Mets so desperately need.