Just Mets

There is more injury news out of Port St. Lucie today. Sandy Alderson revealed to reporters after the Mets 13-2 win over the Atlanta Braves that Zack Wheeler has been scratched from his start Saturday due to a blister issue and a “tender elbow.” Wheeler will not be getting an MRI on his elbow.

As a Mets fan, this is worrisome to me. While the team has said that they don’t believe this to be anything serious, when it comes to one of the club’s young star pitchers, anything like this is going to create anxiety, especially after what happened to Matt Harvey during the 2013 season.

“At this point we don’t expect it’s going to be a major issue,” Alderson said on Wheeler per Matt Ehalt on Twitter.

Alderson referred to Wheeler’s issue as tendinitis, something he told reporters that Zack has dealt with before and received treatment for. It’s unknown if the tender elbow or the blister, the issue Wheeler claims is the bigger deal, had any affect on Zack’s last start where he struggled, allowing six earned runs on two hits, and two walks in 1.2 innings pitched.

It’s worth noting that minor leaguer Tyler Pill will be taking Wheeler’s spot tomorrow and not Dillon Gee. The Mets seem to be determined to keep Gee in the bullpen, however, I suspect that if the issues Wheeler is dealing with in his elbow do not improve, Gee could be in play to re-enter the rotation if a stint on the disabled list is necessary.

Not only did the news about Wheeler come as a surprise, but it was also announced by Alderson that reliever Vic Black underwent a precautionary MRI on his right shoulder on Friday. Alderson believes that Black merely has shoulder tendinitis, Adam Rubin tweets, and that this issue is unrelated to the neck and shoulder problems that Black experienced last season.

While the Mets are saying that the MRI on Black was just to be safe, this again is not good news. With Josh Edgin likely needing Tommy John surgery, Dillon Gee transitioning into becoming a reliever for the first time and the lack of a veteran presence, any loss of Vic Black would be a big blow to the Mets suddenly dwindling bullpen.

Black was set up to be a major part of the pen for the Mets in 2015, after pitching to a 2.60 ERA in his stint with the ball club last season.

Zack Wheeler and Vic Black are being counted on to be key contributors to the Mets potential success in the upcoming season, and any sort of serious injury resulting in time off the field could significantly hamper that. We’ll wait and see how the health of these two guys fleshes out, but hopefully, as the Mets are saying, this is all precautionary.