Hey, Baseball Gods! I was kidding!
It was announced yesterday – maybe you heard – that Zack Wheeler has the dreaded ulnar collateral ligament — or UCL — tear, probably requiring Tommy John surgery. This news has elicited a wide range of reactions, from wailing and gnashing of teeth to a more measured approach, extolling the virtues and the “whew!” factor of Sandy Alderson’s strategy of holding on to the team’s pitching depth.
As a well-trained Mets observer, your intrepid columnist wishes he could say he’s surprised.
When Wheeler was first acquired, photographs capturing his pitching motion revealed the classic injury-waiting-to-happen form. Wheeler flashed the infamous “inverted ‘W’” arm action in his delivery. You have to wonder why they don’t just call it an “M,” but whatever. 
Veteran scouts have espoused the theory that this might be a common denominator in figuring out why there seems to be a surfeit of Tommy John surgeries the past few years. That’s not to say that pitchers who don’t throw like that will be able to avoid the knife – Matt Harvey is a prime example – but it seems to be a thread. Then, there is that glut of TJ surgeries — whatever the reasons for it may be – that seems to be whacking every team lately.
Then, of course, this is the Mets.
This franchise doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to medical matters. From the wave of ills and ailments that scuttled a once-promising 2009 campaign, to flying a concussed Ryan Church across the country – twice! – to the breakdowns of Jose Reyes, Jason Bay and Carlos Beltran, to the botched attempts to camouflage the severity of these woes, the Mets have appeared quite the joke when the trainers are called on. The Wheeler timeline was more of the same:
1 – reports pain in his pitching elbow.
2 – pulled from start, as routine precaution, no MRI scheduled.
3 – MRI scheduled, as routine precaution, but it will be clean – he had two “clean” scans over the winter.
4 – MRI reveals tear in the UCL, but may opt to treat with rest and rehab, ala Masahiro Tanaka, pending a second opinion.
5 – TJ surgery scheduled.
Par for the course with this team, no matter the administration, be it Minayan or Aldersonian.
In any case, the Mets will be short a supposed key cog in the supposed playoff-bound 2015 machine. Are they able to withstand this kind of loss? Yes, probably better than most. But news like this tends to cast a pall over an entire season. The more cynical of us could point to this as a custom-made excuse – delivered from the heavens — for Wilpon, Alderson and crew to punt yet another season and send those goal posts one more stop down the line to 2016.
I can’t believe that, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Follow me on Twitter @CharlieHangley.
So this is what is with pitching. It’s an old truism- You can never have enough. And even if a team has the luxury of a $150-200 Million roster— You can never afford enough. Teams can find a back-up at the other 8 positions, reasonably, even if it’s just to get by. But when teams have a need for even a middle-of-the-road starter, Pitching is expensive. $10-15 million for a guy who can give you 6 decent innings against an average line-up. I’ve backed Sandy on his steadfast objection to trading the “excess pitching” – as if there were such a thing, in exchange for position players. Suddenly, even to the most Kool-Aid drinking Mets fans, there is the realization that the Mets are tight on good pitching, due to the recent reports.
I’ve always thought that the Mets should be open to trading away some of the surplus of pitching for a shortstop, but after this I’m glad that Gee is on the team. It’s a good point you bring up Raff, you really can’t have enough pitching. I think it’s important for teams to have 7 quality starters ready to go, because you never know when injuries are going to happen. Hopefully the Mets rotation can stay healthy this year, because that will be crucial if they plan to make the playoffs.
There is a difference between pitching with pain and pitching with soreness. Wheeler said he had pain throughout the course of last season. Did he already have a tear? Makes you wonder? Did our beloved incompetent training staff just hide these facts from management? Or did Wheeler not say (complain) about any pain? Making 32 starts while pitching with a “sore” elbow is truly an amazing feat.. Given the fact that Wheeler has had 4 months to heal from his “sore” elbow may suggest that the tear was already there and never fully healed. During Spring Training was Wheeler pitching with some “discomfort” in his elbow? And how is it the doctors were able to find a tear this time and not with the two previous exams he had last season? There is a difference between being sore and in pain constantly. A throbbing elbow is usually not a good sign. Don’t worry Zack you’ll have 4 months to rest and heal during the off season. Alderson was probably aware of Wheeler’s discomfort during the off season and that’s probably why no deals were made to unload some of the excess pitching for an upgrade at SS. Spring training just started. To say the injury just occurred now is foolish. They simply ” found” the tear now. Right. Sure.
Pete, do you realize that if there was a tear and it was hidden by the doctors and organization, lawsuits, MLBPA upheaval, and more pressure on Mets ownership would be enormous? I don’t think they hid it, but I cannot trust these people for a second. They only care about their pockets and nothing else.
I’m leaning more towards incompetency and using the players motivation to pitch with pain against him. It’s like football players with concussions. They may be hurt but they stay in the game no matter what the consequence may be afterwards. I would like to think that Wheeler and his agent are more keen on his health and future. You’re right Gus the Mets (Wilpons) only care about Their bottom line and maintaining control of their investment. I have said that the baseball gods will not allow the Wilpons (which includes us unfortunately) to profit from their :”ignorance” in regards to Madoff. I don’t think the Mets will another WS until the Wilpons are gone
I really don’t know what to say about the “pitching through pain” aspect of this. On the surface, it just seems like an impossibly bad idea for an professional baseball team to allow to happen for so long. On the other hand, didn’t Wheeler say he’d been pitching with some kind of pain since he essentially became a pro?
Was it on him to speak up if the pain was specifically of a different variety? Should the team have probed further? I just don’t really know what to think here.
As we patiently waited and seemingly found ourselves on the cusp of a long run of good to elite young, cheap, controllable pitching leading us into perennial contention,I get this gnawing feeling and terrible fear that we have, instead, found ourselves on the precipice of a ‘lost-generation”, due to injuries.