PORT ST. LUCIE — Dirt never looked so good.
Zack Wheeler had waited 11 months for a return to the pitcher’s mound following Tommy John surgery, so he certainly wasn’t about to dismiss his cameo from in front of the rubber Saturday at the Mets’ spring training complex.
The righty threw 10 pitches from the slope of the mound and could celebrate another step taken in his rehab.
“As small as it was, it’s a big milestone — sort of what you’re working forward to, getting back on the mound,” Wheeler said. “Even if it was [10] throws off the front of the mound, it’s still feet on the dirt and getting back off the slope a little bit.”
Entering spring training last year, Wheeler joined Jacob deGrom and returning Matt Harvey to give the Mets an exciting 1-2-3 punch. Times have changed. In the rotation to which Wheeler will return around July 1, he might be considered the No. 5 starter, with Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz now added to the mix.
Wheeler often is excluded in conversations about the Mets’ exceptional starting pitching, but that mainly is because he wasn’t visible for most of the last year.
“I don’t forget about him, and that’s all that matters,” manager Terry Collins said. “I know exactly where he’s at and what he’s doing. I’ve had enough conversations with him to know that he will be ready when the time is right, and we have made a very important decision not to rush it back, so we have stuck to this 15-month plan, and when he’s ready he will be up.”
The days of the 12-month return from Tommy John surgery, at least within the Mets organization, have gone the way of the four-man rotation. The more conservative approach was instituted for Harvey’s rehab, and the Mets will stick with it.
“I was sort of playing it safe in the first place, and then they came along with this, and it’s fine with me — it’s only going to help me in the future,” Wheeler said. “Obviously, I would rather be out there sooner rather than later, but sometimes things take time. It was a big surgery that I had, so it’s good to take time right now rather than later.”
And there are safety valves within the 15-month window — originally Wheeler hoped to begin throwing from a mound in January, but a decision was reached to delay the progression for several weeks.
“I was planning on getting on the mound a little earlier, but they backed me up a little bit, which was fine,” Wheeler said. “I am totally fine with it. I would rather get on a mound earlier, but it’s going to be fine.”
Wheeler went 11-11 with a 3.54 ERA for the Mets in 2014 after a solid rookie season. His stock was high enough even sidelined that the Brewers nearly acquired him last summer with Wilmer Flores in a deal that would have brought Carlos Gomez to the Mets. But the trade was nixed by the Mets after concerns surfaced about Gomez’s hip.
Two days later, Wheeler called general manager Sandy Alderson to express his desire to remain with the organization. Wheeler was spared when the Mets landed Yoenis Cespedes, with pitching prospects Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa sent to the Tigers.
Bartolo Colon will fill Wheeler’s spot in the rotation to start the season. Ultimately, Colon could shift to the bullpen to create rotation space for Wheeler.
“Hopefully once I do get back to that point, I will be 100 percent and ready to roll,” Wheeler said. “Hopefully jump back in there full stride and pitching well after recovering well.”