Fansided

Mets’ Zack Wheeler tears UCL, Tommy John likely

By Stanford Crissey

Mar 9, 2015; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) throws in the spring training baseball game against the Miami Marlins at Tradition Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 9, 2015; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) throws in the spring training baseball game against the Miami Marlins at Tradition Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

Young Mets pitcher Zack Wheeler has torn UCL, the team announced.

The New York Mets received a serious blow to their playoff hopes today, as promising young starter Zack Wheeler has a torn UCL and will most likely need Tommy John surgery.

More from MLB

The Mets announced that Wheeler had a torn ulnar collateral ligament, and while ESPN reports that Tommy John surgery is the most likely scenario for Wheeler, it is not the only route he can take, and no decision has been made yet.

Wheeler had experienced elbow discomfort last week and was scratched from a scheduled spring training start this weekend. He had an MRI on his elbow Saturday in Florida, which revealed the tear.

Wheeler made 32 starts for the Mets last season, putting up a 3.54 ERA and 187 strikeouts. His strikeouts per nine innings (rate of 9.08 ranked 12th in the majors. According to FanGraphs WAR he was the Mets’ third most valuable pitcher last season, behind Jacob deGrom and Bartolo Colon, and the team was hoping he would take another step forward this season.

Wheeler was acquired from the Giants in 2011 in a deadline deal for Carlos Beltran. He was considered one of the top prospects in baseball and a crucial part of the Mets’ rebuilding efforts.

Wheeler’s injury comes at a bad time for the Mets, who were hoping to have an excellent, young rotation with ace Matt Harvey returning from his own Tommy John surgery he had in 2013. Wheeler would have been key to that and to the Mets’ playoff hopes in a weak division. They still have those hopes, but they’ve been dealt a blow with this injury.

Dillon Gee, who was in last year’s rotation, will be the likely replacement for Wheeler.

The god news for Wheeler is that as Tommy John surgery grows more common among pitchers, it’s become extremely likely that pitchers who have the surgery will come back and be as good as they were before. This spring we’ve seen his teammate Harvey firing some serious heat after being out 18 months, so this is far from a death sentence for his career.

And he might not even need the surgery; he could follow the path of the Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka, who tore his UCL elected (on doctor recommendation) to eschew surgery and simply rest his elbow. Tanaka was back pitching in late September, and by all accounts is healthy this season.

Time will tell with Wheeler, but the constant loss of young pitchers to elbow injuries in MLB is worrying, and robs the game of some of its best talents. Hopefully Wheeler can make a full recovery, surgery or no surgery.

More from FanSided

Home/MLB