The Mets have had high playoff hopes throughout the entire offseason and during Spring Training. However, on Monday morning they received devastating news from Zack Wheeler‘s precautionary MRI: he has a UCL tear in his throwing elbow.
They just lost another star pitcher to Tommy John surgery. This could be a huge blow for any other team. But with the amount of pitching that the Mets have, they could just as easily compete for a wild card spot.
With Wheeler out for the year, the most likely candidate to assume his spot in the rotation is Dillon Gee. Gee has seen himself go from the trading block in the offseason to now manning the number five spot in the rotation.
Wheeler has been progressing every year since joining the Mets in 2011. He ended the 2014 season with an 11-11 record with a 3.54 ERA along with a 1.33 WHIP and a 9.1 K/9.
Gee has been a serviceable starter for many years. He was the Opening Day starter for the Mets in 2014 due to the injury to Matt Harvey. Gee fared well in 2014. He had pitched to a 7-8 record with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP. There has been chatter around the Mets that Noah Syndergaard or Steven Matz might make the Opening Day roster due to Wheeler’s injury. However, those moves seem unlikely, as the Mets will exercise every option to make sure that this injury won’t faze their chances of playoff baseball.
Even though the Mets have lost one of their top three pitchers, things still look bright for the club from Flushing.
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