Ken Davidoff

Ken Davidoff

MLB

Here’s Wheeler’s chance to get used to being the Mets’ ace

PHILADELPHIA — It was a brutal beginning to the Mets’ Sunday at Citizens Bank Park, as rookie dynamo Jacob deGrom left town to see team doctors in New York about his sore right shoulder.

And a brutal ending, too, as Jenrry Mejia completed the giveaway of his team’s five-run lead by registering a 7-6 loss to the Phillies, then admitting post-game that he is battling a hernia tear.

The salvation, if any, came in the middle, as Mets starting pitcher Zack Wheeler registered his eighth straight quality start and left the contest as the winning pitcher. And now that deGrom is down, it’s Wheeler’s turn to be this franchise’s salvation. At least for the short term.

“He threw [well],” Terry Collins said of Wheeler. “… The issue, as sometimes happens with him, was he got deep in the pitch count. Six innings and [112] pitches is a lot of pitches. He threw the ball [well], he kept us in the game. He gave us what he had.”

“It’s been better than the beginning of the year, obviously, but still a lot of room to improve,” Wheeler said. “The main part is keeping my pitch count down. I’m being aggressive, but they’re fouling a lot of balls off. I think I just have to make my put-away pitches a little bit better but not try to make them too much better, because that’s when you start getting yourself in a little bit more trouble. That’s what video’s for the next few days.”

Doesn’t quite match the glowing praise we’ve seen in the Collins years for the likes of Johan Santana, R.A. Dickey, Matt Harvey and deGrom, does it? That’s because Wheeler isn’t as complete a product as those guys of varying ages. The high pitch counts remain an issue, as he and Collins both mentioned, and he tends to lose focus. Pitching coach Dan Warthen visited the mound in both the fifth and sixth innings.

However, as the Mets’ rotation currently stands, with deGrom sidelined for a minimum of one start, Wheeler resides as the club’s most reliable starting pitcher. In his last eight starts, he owns a 1.73 ERA in 51 ¹/₃ innings, having allowed 43 hits, 12 runs (11 earned) and 21 walks while striking out 44.

“I’m very proud of Zack,” Warthen said. “I have to give a little credit to John Smoltz. When we were in Atlanta [June 30 to July 2], we talked to him a little bit. We all had a conversation. [Wheeler] has kind of followed through with it. There are some positive things happening.

“I do give credit to John for a couple of comments he made to him. Really pumped him up. And he’s been outstanding since.”

Whoa. Former Braves stud and Mets nemesis Smoltz, the 1996 National League Cy Young Award winner, helped out the Georgia native Wheeler? Didn’t see that coming. When I asked Warthen what Smoltz’s “couple of comments” were, the coach smiled and responded, “It’s a pitching thing. I’ll leave it at that.”

In any case, for all of Wheeler’s apparent flaws, he now consistently keeps his team in the game. Monday’s starter Jon Niese has not done that since returning from the disabled list following the All-Star break. Opening Day starter Dillon Gee has fluctuated since his return from the DL last month, although he pitched very well against the Phillies (seven innings, one run) on Saturday night. Bartolo Colon mixes in superb outings with awful ones, depending on his fastball command.

The Mets expressed hope that deGrom would return shortly.

“I don’t think it’s big damage in any way, shape or form. but I think it’s going to be one of these where a little rest will probably be good because he’s [eight] innings within what he threw all of last year,” Warthen said. Carlos Torres will probably take deGrom’s place Tuesday against Washington if deGrom doesn’t need to go on the disabled list. If this winds up a DL situation, then the Mets probably would promote Rafael Montero over Noah Syndergaard to fill the starting rotation void, since Montero already picked up some major-league experience earlier this season.

With the postseason not a realistic option, the Mets’ goals are to finish this season as mildly interesting and remotely relevant for their long-suffering fan base. Wheeler now becomes an essential contributor to that effort.

So far in his short career, Wheeler generated the most buzz by simply becoming a Met, as the return in the 2011 trade of Carlos Beltran to the Giants. Then he found himself overshadowed by nearly everyone else.

It’s his turn to be the star, the stopper. To help ensure this Mets season doesn’t end as brutally as Sunday kicked off and concluded.