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Registered: 06-2006
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Mets prospect hits 97 mph in first spring appearance


On a back field here at the Mets’ complex, far from the organization’s financial troubles, the looming trial or the avalanche of injuries that has infected the big-league club’s camp, the man who is perhaps the team’s best hope for an ace of the future made his first start of the spring Saturday.

For those searching for hopeful Met-aphors in Zack Wheeler’s performance against Double-A minor-leaguers from the Cardinals’ organization, there were signs of brilliance. In three controlled innings, Wheeler allowed only an unearned run and hit 97 miles per hour on the radar gun with his fastball multiple times.

But there were also signs of how far away from the big leagues the 21-year-old is, regardless of his remarkable potential. After a dominant first inning that featured a strikeout looking on one of those 97 mph fastball and two weak grounders, Wheeler was wild in the second, walking the first two hitters and hitting the fourth with a curveball.

Had the inning not been declared over after he reached his pitch limit for the frame — hey, it’s spring training, after all — he likely would’ve given up more than just one run. He finished the day with three walks and one hit batsman, allowing two hits. He threw 52 pitches, 33 strikes.

To Wheeler, the results were less important than the work, which is probably the right attitude this time of year.

“First time out there, you try to throw a lot of strikes, get ground balls,” Wheeler said. “Work on stuff you did in the bullpen.

“I think I did pretty good. You try to work with all your pitches. You don’t try to blow everybody away the first time out. I felt good.”

Wheeler is working on what he called “a tweak” in his windup — instead of bringing his hands all the way down to the belt during his motion, he is trying to stop higher. “That’s been helping me throw through the catcher and pound the zone,” Wheeler said. “I’ve got to work my curveball off of that because it feels a little bit different, so I’m making adjustments with that.”

The Mets got Wheeler last year from the Giants in the Carlos Beltran trade and many in baseball have applauded their return for Beltran, who was a rent-a-player for San Francisco as it missed the playoffs. Wheeler is considered by many, including Baseball America, to be the Mets’ top prospect and he’s so promising that a scout assigned to the Met-Braves game at Digital Domain Park Saturday trekked to the back fields specifically to watch Wheeler because he’d never seen him before and came away impressed.
 
His spate of wildness wasn’t the only sign that Wheeler is far away from Citi Field. The surroundings he worked in were classic minor-league: Wheeler warmed up for the start on one of a cluster of four mounds between fields. On one of the other mounds, the Met starter for the other nearby minor-league game warmed up and, mere feet away, the Cardinals’ starters got loose on the others.

Rather than paying customers, the small bleachers were dotted with some players’ family members, girlfriends or the players not in uniform for games who were assigned the task of retrieving foul balls. From a canopied tower nearby, Met brass such as Paul DePodesta watched.

With many Met fans anticipating a bleak year in Queens, some are focused on Wheeler’s development, as well as that of other high-level pitching prospects such as Jeurys Familia and Matt Harvey. But Wheeler says he does not feel “any pressure or anything. You just go out and try to do your job and worry about everything later.” He understands people are watching and chuckled at the idea of a group of reporters surrounding him after his start.

“It’s the New York media,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of you guys. It’s whatever. I don’t know.”

He’s hoping to find more consistency this season and go deeper into games and throw more strikes with his off-speed pitches.

Asked if he’s anxious to move quickly through the system —he figures to spend most of his time this season at Double-A — Wheeler said, “You just go out there and pitch when you have to pitch. They have a plan for everybody.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-mets-prospect-zack-wheeler-shows-signs-brilliance-controlled-innings-spring-start-article-1.1041645#ixzz1pUzPocYG


Last edited by vtmet, 3/18/2012, 3:35 pm


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