COVER BOY: While Mets prospect Zack Wheeler visits doctors in New York for a sore clavicle, the team’s ace, Matt Harvey, has to deal with the Sports Illustrated cover jinx. (Sports Illustrated)
ST. LOUIS — Zack Wheeler finally has arrived in New York, but not to pitch for the Mets.
The team’s top pitching prospect will be examined Wednesday at the Hospital for Special Surgery, after complaining of soreness in his right collarbone on Monday. He has been scratched from his scheduled start on Friday for Triple-A Las Vegas.
“I think we’re being a little bit conservative given who it is and making sure our guys see him right away,” assistant general manager John Ricco said before the Mets’ 10-4 loss to the Cardinals Tuesday night.
Wheeler showed no signs of breakdown in his start on Saturday, when he pitched 7 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on six hits with one walk and seven strikeouts against Albuquerque. According to a talent evaluator who witnessed the performance, Wheeler still was throwing 97 mph in the eighth inning.
The talent evaluator said the Mets are probably just showing caution by bringing Wheeler to New York for the examination since no red flags arose during the right-hander’s performance.
Wheeler has not previously dealt with a collarbone issue, according to Ricco.
“He had not felt anything like that,” Ricco said. “When we heard that, it was kind of an odd area, so we just wanted to make sure.”
Wheeler is 2-1 with a 3.74 ERA in eight starts this season for Las Vegas.
Last month, he underwent an MRI exam on his middle finger after team officials became concerned about a blister that wasn’t disappearing. The blister, which burst during his third start, had prevented Wheeler from gripping his slider.
According to a club source, even before the collarbone soreness there was little chance Wheeler’s Las Vegas finale would have come on Friday. This despite the fact Wheeler has dominated in his last three starts, allowing only three earned runs over 20 innings.
The source said the Mets remain sensitive to not heaping too much pressure on Wheeler to be the savior given the team’s recent struggles. But it’s clear Wheeler is close to a promotion that would put him in the same rotation as Matt Harvey, injecting some much needed life into a team that has watched starting pitchers Dillon Gee, Jeremy Hefner and Shaun Marcum struggle. And lately, Opening Day starter Jon Niese has been a mess.
The Mets’ other stud prospect, catcher Travis d’Arnaud, has missed the last month with a broken left foot. D’Arnaud is scheduled to be examined tomorrow, at which time he could receive clearance to resume limited baseball activities.
At the major league level, the Mets placed reliever Scott Atchison on the disabled list yesterday with elbow soreness and called up pitcher Collin McHugh from Las Vegas.