Despite persistent discomfort in his elbow, Zack Wheeler has trusted there’s nothing wrong.
But, on Saturday, Wheeler reportedly underwent an MRI even though the team continues to believe his condition is only tendinitis.
Wheeler underwent two MRIs on his right elbow this past winter, both of which came back clean, Terry Collins said Saturday. The Mets did not feel Wheeler needed an MRI after the latest incident, although team doctors insisted upon it just to be safe.
“Our doctor requested it this morning,” Sandy Alderson told Dan Martin of the New York Post on Saturday.
Frankly, it came as a surprise the Mets didn’t warrant an MRI to begin with, even if they deemed it a minor problem and it ultimately remains a minor problem. It’s not that I think the team made a mistake, especially since they’ve been conservative with examining his elbow even recently. But things change, things go unseen, and so on. The last thing they need is there is a problem, they don’t know about it, the pain calms down, he starts throwing again with gusto and it gets worse.
On Saturday, Terry Collins said Wheeler has been dealing with this problem in his elbow since last season, and said he removed Wheeler early from one of his starts because of it.
“A lot of games he pitched with his elbow bothering him, so we know it’s been there,” Collins explained on Saturday. “We know he’s had this issue before.”
Still, while Wheeler has trusted there’s nothing wrong, he’s had concerns it could lead to other problems. This has always been a concern of mine not just with Wheeler, but any pitcher. In this case, assuming nothing is wrong now, if he’s thinking about it – even subconsciously – he could try to avoid injury by making a change and in turn worsen the condition or injure himself elsewhere in the process.
“You always have that in the back of your head,” Wheeler said, according to Martin. “But you try not to change anything you’re doing: arm angle, mechanics all that kind of stuff. Just do what you’ve been doing and trust it.”
Well, here’s to trusting.
You can read more about Wheeler’s elbow problems from MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.
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