Maybe its the mets coaching staff 'doing it again'. As usual, the Mets crack staff seem to always be having their star pitching prospects 'tweak' things a bit as they start their careers. It caused Matt Harvey to have a bad second start last year. And then, here we go again???
Or was it something else? Among all the hype about Mr. Wheeler, there also were the slight rumblings of a kid with a control problem.
Maybe he will never be as good as Harvey.....Heck, maybe Matt Harvey will never be as good as Matt Harvey (of the first 25 starts). But, it is what it is ladies and gentlemen. Zack Wheeler is young. Zack Wheeler came out of high school. Zack Wheeler spent months in the desert fighting through the Vegas heat, and the PCL, a hitters dream league to make your stats look AMAZIN.
Maybe we have just been spoiled. How often does a kid come out of AAA throwing nonstop quality starts every 5 days? The future still looks bright. Now, maybe its time we find out just what Wheeler is made of. He's the kid who's supposedly "got better stuff then Harvey". He's still also the kid who debuted in his hometown and didn't give up a run. He can still throw in the high 90s, with plus breaking stuff.
Maybe this is a good thing for the all mighty New York Hype machine of a sports market. Montero is coming. Syndergaard is coming. We could be spending another 2 full seasons hearing all about each one, as we eagerly wait, and anticipate, their arrival.
We can't expect each of them to come out and put up 10 strikeouts, 6 innings, and 0-1 runs every five days. What we can expect are growing pains. Justin Verlander wasn't.....well.....Justin Verlander, when he started.
The important thing is that Wheeler is here. We don't have to keep talking about him, speculating what he might do, and wondering if he will every get out of that Vegas heat (yeah, I talk about it a lot. Mainly because i've been there in the summer, when its 99 degrees at midnight).
So who's next? What about the hitters? Will Mets fans be expecting Travis D to come up hitting doubles, batting .300, and calling great games behind the plate? Will we be expecting Jack Leathersich to strike out at least 2 batters an inning in stellar relief?
How about this. How about we put at least a little faith in the Mets organization to do it right. Scouts are paid to scout. Coaches are paid to coach. We can all argue about Mets ownership until we are blue (and orange...go Mets), in the face. The fact is that owners don't develop anyone. They don't make anyone on the field better.
Lets sit back, and enjoy the fact that Harvey is Harvey, 'moneyball' has worked with Aardsma, Byrd and Young, Jr, and Zack Wheeler is where all Mets fans have wanted him to be since we first heard of him............................PS, what's up with Josh Satin? Guy's a beast. All he does is get on base.
2 comments:
You never know what you're gong to wind up with.
There never was any sign that Matt Harvey would quickly develop into the best RHP in the NL, but he has.
Zack Wheeler can't be compared to him at this point, though, after 3 starts, he's throwing at about the same success rate that Harvey did last year in his first three outings.
It's a lot different standing on a major league mound.
As for d'Arnaud... only time will tell also. He broke his foot AFTER the trade...
shit happends
I was at the game on Sunday. After the 1st, with 2 K's, I thought Wheeler was going to roll right through the Nats. Then, LaRoche hit a bomb and it was all over from there. Wheeler was shaken and he never really regained his composure. I think these struggles are good for him. He's going to have to adjust and learn to pitch in the bigs. Honestly, I was expecting a lot of up and down from him. As you mentioned about Verlander, he was awful when he first came up. Wheeler has talent and the only way he'll develop is to struggle and make adjustments. Matt Harvey's are once in a generation.
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