Prior to the season, the New York Mets set an innings limit of roughly 125 for right handed pitcher Zack Wheeler. Wheeler, who missed two full seasons rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, figured to pitch those innings without an issue since the Mets had seven big league starting pitchers at the start of spring training. Injuries shuffled those plans, forcing Wheeler into the rotation to start the season, where he began racking up innings quickly. Wheeler’s pace has slowed down, however, to the point that the Mets are no longer planning on limiting his innings this season, Newsday’s Marc Carig reports.
Entering his start today against the St. Louis Cardinals, Wheeler has tossed 70 innings over 14 starts, putting him on pace for 140 innings this season. That is only a 15 inning increase over what the Mets had budgeted at the beginning of the season, and it appears to be a figure they are comfortable with him reaching. A string of poor starts and a trip to the disabled list with biceps tendinitis have limited Wheeler to just 7.1 innings in the last month, essentially giving him a mid-season break before he finishes out the season. The Mets’ new thinking appears to be to get Wheeler to the end of the season for two reasons: to try and help them win games and get a few more innings onto his arm in anticipation of next season.
Even though the Mets are having a down year, they can easily contend next season by making the right moves over the winter with their strong pitching staff. Wheeler is a big part of that, and the more innings he tosses in 2017 the more freedom the Mets will have with him in 2018. The Mets have yet to see their talented collection of young starters all work in the rotation at the same time, and that could happen next season if everyone stays healthy. Getting Wheeler more work as he moves further away from the Tommy John surgery can only help that cause.
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