Zack Wheeler to pen makes sense

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Former New York Mets pitcher Nelson Figueroa quietly floated an idea that could breathe a little change into a franchise that needs to earn back good will after a poor 2017 just before the new year.

The now TV analyst pondered about bumping Zack Wheeler out of the starting rotation and 400 feet away into the bullpen. It’s a fair point, and, honestly, probably a smart move.

Drafted by the San Francisco Giants in 2009, Wheeler came to New York two years later as slugger Carlos Beltran headed for the west coast. He arrived with hype and fanfare – the young flamethrower would become a mainstay for a team historically bolstered by pitching. Blue chip prospect Matt Harvey was waiting in the wings for a call-up in 2012 – the same year R.A. Dickey tossed a pair of one-hitters and Johan Santana threw the Mets’ first no-hitter.

Sadly, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Dickey was traded after that season for, among others, super prospect Noah Syndergaard. Affectionately known as Thor by fans, the hulking righty added excessive strength training before the 2017 campaign and tore a muscle that required all season to repair. Harvey has sprinkled elite appearances with injuries, awful performances on the mound and questionable decisions off it, at one point requiring the team conduct a welfare check when he failed to show at Citi Field. Jacob deGrom underwent the knife in 2016 to move a nerve; the surgery was a complete success and the starter was one of the few 2017 highlights. Last season was a complete disaster for kid starter Steven Matz after showing serious signs of promise his first two seasons. The southpaw ended 2016 with surgery to remove a bone spur in his elbow, began 2017 with a two-month DL stint for an elbow strain, poor pitching performances and an August date with a surgeon for the same procedure deGrom underwent.

Citi Field was billed as the home of the Four Horsemen, a moniker that did not include Wheeler as the southpaw spent more time recovering from injuries than competing. It started with Tommy John surgery early in 2015 and recovery that consumed much of 2016 and ended with a trio of DL stints in the following season and a half. He wasn’t winning accolades with his limited performances either, finishing last year with a 5.21 ERA and the highest home run rates allowed in his career.

But maybe, just maybe, removing Wheeler from the stress of throwing 200 innings can finally reverse the injury trend. After all, he does have a pitch repertoire that can excel as a reliever. Wheeler’s bread-and-butter pitch when he’s on is a 96-mph four-fingered fastball with good movement. His common secondary offerings are a sinker that’s faster than average at 95 mph, an 89-mph slider that’s become a 12-to-6 offering and a 79-mph curveball that lacked horizontal and vertical movement last year. On rare occasion, an 88-mph changeup crosses the plate with poor movement in 2017. As a reliever, Wheeler could reinvent himself as a two- or three-pitch pitcher that boasts a plus fastball. New manager Mickey Calloway is an ardent fan of the curveball, not unlike former pitching coach Dan Warthen and the slider, so it seems likely that would remain. A younger Wheeler boasted a wipeout slider to lefty batters and could add a horizontal option to his pitch selection.

Calling the southpaw out of the bullpen could also prevent exposing him to lineups and limit damage. Despite the 5.60 ERA, Wheeler allowed the lowest batting average and on-base percentage just once through the lineup in 2017. That’s been the case throughout his career as well – compare his .675 on-base plus slugging percentage the first time through and his .776 percentage the third time through. He’s also not going to strike out more than a single batter an inning after the second time through the lineup, nor limit his walks as the game goes along.

Obviously all of this history and analysis does little to evaluate the free agent market and Mets current roster. There is a shortage of affordable, quality starting pitching, especially compared to their relief counterparts, which could be an argument against the plan. But if summoning Wheeler out of the bullpen rebuilds his value even to the point he’s a moderate trade piece come July, then it’s clearly worth trying something different this year.

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