Wednesday was an eventful day for our New York Mets. Zack Wheeler made his debut, the Mets traded Collin McHugh for Eric Young Jr., recalled Andrew Brown, and designated Collin Cowgill for assignment. When you look at it, the Mets exchanged two guys named Collin for two former Rockies.
Wheeler tossed six shutout innings in game 2 of the doubleheader against the Braves in Atlanta. He was wild at times (walking 5), but 98 MPH fastballs have a tendency to cover up mistakes. After what felt like years of anticipation (though it was only 2 years since the Mets acquired Wheeler from the Giants), Zack’s opening act went as planned.
Wheeler followed Matt Harvey, who brought a no-hitter into the seventh in game 1 of the double header. It was broken up on an infield hit that was the result of miscommunication between the big right-hander and Lucas Duda, who was playing only his second game at first base this year. The wheels nearly fell off in the eighth, but Bobby Parnell brought order to chaos.
In all, the Harvey/Wheeler doubleheader delivered what it promised. And the Mets lineup managed to deliver a modicum of run support for each of the team’s new aces.
Harvey and Wheeler have differing styles, but each delivers similar stuff. It reminds me of an old comparison between Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier, back when the two hockey greats played for the Edmonton Oilers. It was said that when Gretzky skated, the sound was a “click click click.” When Messier skated it was more of a grinding noise. When Harvey delivers the ball, he bull-rushes the plate. When Wheeler delivers, he’s more like a bullwhip – delivering pain in a more graceful manner.
The differences between the two are more thoroughly visited here, in an article that also describes how Harvey, as a rookie, nearly came to blows with the mountainous Jon Rauch in the locker room.
Since animated GIFs are all the rage with the kids these days, here are every one of Wheeler’s 7 strikeouts.
David Wright picked up his 1,500th career hit in game 2 of the double header. Where does this put him in historical context with the Mets organization and major league baseball?
After the double header, the Mets made a number of transactions, including the trade for EY Jr. McHugh will start off at Double-A Tulsa for the Rockies, though he could move quickly to Triple-A Colorado Springs.
As for Young, he brings some much needed speed to the Mets. If he can return to his 2011/2012 form (.342/.377 OBP, respectively) he could be a big help at the top of the order.
Some people don’t think the Mets gave Cowgill enough of a chance at the major league level.
In other news, former Met prospect Fernando Martinez has a new home – the Yankees organization. The Astros ran out of patience with F-Mart and traded him to the Yanks for rookie-ball pitcher Charles Basford.
In seasons like these, we have to enjoy the bright spots were we can, and yesterday was one of those bright spots. And if Harvey and Wheeler can keep pitching the way they did yesterday, we can expect more bright spots for years to come.