See, now this is the way the learning curve is supposed to look. This is the gauntlet a kid is supposed to absorb in his first few furlongs in the big leagues, a few knocks here, a few jabs there.
We’ve seen Yasiel Puig make the game look ridiculously easy for much of his time with the Dodgers, saw him zoom from zero to 80 with the effortlessness of blinking. It’s not supposed to look like that, certainly isn’t supposed to be like that.
Hell, Zack Wheeler has seen Matt Harvey make the game look just as easy from a couple of lockers to his left, seen him make big-league hitters look silly, heard veteran guys such as Carlos Beltran dip into the hyperbole grinder and declare Harvey the best they’ve ever seen.
“I’m battling,” Wheeler said yesterday. “I’m fighting as best as I can.”
Wheeler battled and he grinded and he fought his way through six innings and 95 pitches yesterday, and for his trouble the Mets rewarded him with enough offense that he won his fourth game in five decisions, 7-4, even though he squandered an earlier three-run cushion thanks to a couple of home runs, even if he rarely knew with any certainty — nor did his catcher or his pitching coach or his manager — where the ball was going.
“When he pounds the strike zone, he gets outs,” the manager, Terry Collins, said. “He has great movement on his fastball. But he has to work so hard. And the more major league hitters he sees the more dangerous they become because they hunt for certain things. He’s a work in progress.”
That’s the empty part of the glass. This is the full part:
“The sky is the limit,” Collins said. “He has plus stuff. And he’s tougher than people give him credit for.”
He also represents, in a way that even Harvey can’t claim nearly as tangibly, a genuine line of demarcation for the Mets. The day he first arrived for work as a big-leaguer, June 18, the Mets were 15 games under .500 and on pace to lose exactly 100 games. Then he and Harvey teamed up to sweep the Braves on Super Tuesday, the Mets have gone 20-13, and that’s a 98-win pace.
Now Wheeler, of course, is only responsible for a portion of that about face, and even as he has assembled 31 strikeouts and a 3.72 ERA across 38 2/3 innings, he has also collected 20 walks and has a WHIP a tick under 1.50 (which, compared with Harvey’s 0.89 looks especially inflated) and even when he’s at his best he contributes once every fifth day.
Still, it is undeniable the day he arrived the Mets have felt differently about themselves, and played differently. You can fairly credit the arrival of Eric Young Jr., and the emergence of a small crop of Vegas imports who added life and energy, and if you want to be completely honest about it you can look around the National League and see if you have any better luck than me identifying a really good team other than the Cardinals.
But sometimes a young player, even one that’s as green as Wheeler, even one whose raw talent still far outweighs his present production, can be what invigorates and energizes a team. And it’s hard to believe it’s all coincidence that Wheeler’s been around to see all of it.
“Guys are swinging the bats,” Wheeler said. “It’s fun coming to the park when you’re playing this well.”
It only will become more enjoyable for the Mets when Wheeler harnesses his fastball, when he gains faith in his breaking pitches, when he’s able to repeat his delivery and have faith he can get guys out without always having to rely on the hard stuff.
“I need to trust my stuff fully,” he said, “and start setting guys up.”
If that happens, it will happen in its proper time, at its proper speed. Zack Wheeler isn’t Matt Harvey, and that’s indisputable, and also not a felony. But this is true too: the Mets have looked like a different baseball team since June 18. Also inarguable.