From his hot corner, David Wright will look at Zack Wheeler on the mound and see tomorrow, the kind of tomorrow he hopes and prays can help him forget about all those empty yesterdays and all these forlorn todays.
It means Wright is not unlike Mets fans, who deserve so much better, who watch Wheeler for the first time at Citi Field today and hope and pray there is a light at the end of the Queens Madoff Tunnel after all.
Wright never wanted to leave the Mets, 5-1 winners yesterday over the Nationals, but he yearns to play in meaningful September and October games again. Once general manager Sandy Alderson reassured him about the likes of Matt Harvey and Wheeler, and the organization’s arms buildup of weapons of mass reconstruction, Wright signed his eight-year, $134 million contract extension, and isn’t looking back.
“Being around as long as I’ve been around, whether you talk about the Giants, or the Nationals, the quickest way that you get an organization turned around is young power arms,” Wright said. “Beyond just Matt and Zack, I think we’re even deeper than that in the minor leagues.
“It’s well-documented before we even started talking about contracts, we talked about Zack, we talked about Matt, we talked about some of these young guys, and that gets you excited, both from a fan perspective and a teammate perspective that that’s what wins. Pitching wins.
“I wanted to stay, but I want to win also. Sandy will tell you the truth whether you want to hear it or not. I know he wouldn’t sugarcoat anything when talking about our farm system or some of these young pitchers. You hear how high they are on some of these guys obviously gets you excited.”
In his first two starts, Wheeler has unveiled a 97 mph fastball and a paralyzing curveball that have been compromised more by a tendency to tip his pitches, which means manager Terry Collins and pitching coach Dan Warthen will be watching him even more closely than everyone else.
“There’s a certain buzz, obviously,” Wright said, “and I think some of it’s somewhat unfair to a young guy that all of a sudden, especially with Matt the way he’s pitching, everybody just automatically throws him in that category. First of all, I think it’s unfair to Matt, because he’s pitching on a different level right now, and then it’s unfair for Zack to come up and try to replicate that.
“It’s unfair to put too much pressure on him as far as … there’s not one person — pitcher, position player — that can come in here and singlehandedly start winning us divisions. It’s going to be a lot more fair to judge Zack and whoever kind of after they get it into the routine of things.
“It feels like we were saying the same thing about Matt last year around this time. But if we can kind of transform him from kind of a thrower with that raw stuff into a pitcher with that kind of command, there’s no reason that he can’t go out there and dominate.”
Harvey’s first Citi Field start, his fourth big league start, was Aug. 10 last season. He pitched six innings, allowed two runs and two hits in a 4-0 loss to the Braves.
“It was a good experience, it was a fun night. … I didn’t really think it was any different than any other start,” Harvey recalled.
His advice to Wheeler?
“Just do what you normally do, and go out there and pitch. Do your normal routine and just take it as any other start,” Harvey said.
To this franchise, to these fans who can purchase a “Wheelz Up” T-shirt for $45, it is anything but routine when No. 45 toes the slab.
“I think it’s a great day for our fans,” Collins said. “The future’s right around the corner, and Matt Harvey may be the leader of that future, but certainly Zack Wheeler’s right there with it.”
Zack to the future at last.