The New York Mets’ ability to deal Zack Wheeler may have gotten a bit more complicated. Wheeler will not make his scheduled start against the Minnesota Twins after being placed on the injured list with right shoulder fatigue, Newsday’s Tim Healey reports.
Breaking: Zack Wheeler is being placed on the injured list with right shoulder fatigue, a source says.
The IL move is retroactive to Friday, so the soonest he can return is July 23. That leaves Wheeler with two starts max before the trade deadline.
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) July 15, 2019
This all but kills the possibility of jumping the market to get a Wheeler deal done early. Wheeler won’t be off the injured list until at least July 23, so he will only get two starts at most before the trade deadline. This could cause some interested teams to begin looking in other directions for starting pitching if they need help sooner.
Steven Matz is expected to take Wheeler’s start in Minnesota tomorrow. The Mets can go without a fifth starter until Saturday, so don’t be surprised if they wait until then to use a guy like Walker Lockett for a spot start.
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