Zack Wheeler
Zack Wheeler spent 2015 recovering from Tommy John surgery, watching from afar as the New York Mets made a magical run to the World Series. His hopes of joining the team, even in a supporting role, were dashed by an unexpected twist: the Mets didn’t want him around.
 
Mike Puma’s book, If These Walls Could Talk: New York Mets, tells the strange tale. Wheeler had asked to be part of the team’s postseason experience, figuring it would help ease his nerves whenever he got his own shot at October baseball. But the Mets said no. He couldn’t sit in the dugout, couldn’t travel with the team to Los Angeles, Chicago, or Kansas City. Even when he asked for tickets to simply watch from the stands, the answer was the same—he’d have to pay his own way. And so, the prized right-hander sat at home on his couch, watching from a distance as his teammates chased a championship.
 
“I asked to come up to New York, and the Mets wouldn't let me," Wheeler said. "I just wanted to be part of the playoff experience, even if it was in the clubhouse or in the dugout, just so I could be a part of the experience so when I came back I wouldn't be shell-shocked if I went out there for my first playoff game. 

"And then I was like, 'Can I get some tickets and sit in the stands even" Wheeler said. "They were like, 'You have to buy your own.' I wasn't going to buy tickets to watch my own team play, so I ended up sitting at home."

It’s a decision that still leaves many scratching their heads. Here was Wheeler, the centerpiece of the Mets' 2011 trade with San Francisco, a young arm they were counting on for the future, yet they couldn’t make space for him during their biggest moments. Maybe that’s why, when free agency came calling in 2019, Wheeler didn’t look back, signing a five-year, $118 million deal with the Phillies.
 
His early career was a slow burn. After surgery in 2015, setbacks kept him off the mound until 2017, when he struggled to a 5.21 ERA. But in Philadelphia, Wheeler has found the October spotlight he missed in New York. Across two postseason runs with the Phillies, Wheeler has morphed into one of the game’s premier big-game pitchers. Over 63 1/3 innings in October between 2022 and 2023, his ERA sits at 2.42, with a WHIP of just 0.73.
 
Now, as he prepares to take the ball for Game 1 of the NLDS, it’s clear Wheeler is not just here for the ride—he’s built for the stage. The noise, the pressure, the stakes are all part of what he’s been waiting for since that long recovery in 2015. And unlike then, no one is asking him to sit this one out.
 
In the end, the Mets’ decision back in 2015 feels almost surreal, given how things have unfolded. Wheeler was supposed to be part of their core. Instead, he’s now front and center for the Phillies, a force they’ll rely on as they open the NLDS on Saturday -- against the Mets.

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