Major League Baseball

New York Mets: Zack Wheeler hits the disabled list and not for his lack of command

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:03 a.m. ET

Fansided, Keaton Moore/FanSided via Call to the Pen

After two disastrous starts, Zack Wheeler is headed to the 10-day disabled list with biceps tendinitis.

Coming off consecutive seven-plus run starts, Zack Wheeler and the New York Mets claimed his recent struggles had nothing to do with his health. After being bombarded by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, Wheeler told the media it was his lack of command that led to him giving up three homers in two innings.

Yet, hours before their final game in Los Angeles, the Mets announced they placed Wheeler on the 10-day disabled list with biceps tendinitis in his right arm. He is now the tenth Met currently on the disabled list, including starters Matt Harvey and Noah Syndergaard.

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Prior to his last two starts, Wheeler's numbers looked normal for a pitching who had missed the last two seasons due to Tommy John surgery. Through May, Wheeler was 3-2 with a 3.83 ERA in nine starts, averaging around five innings per outing.

However, Wheeler lasted less than three innings against the Cubs and Dodgers in his last two starts. The Cubs hammered Wheeler with eight runs in 1.2 innings and the Dodgers teed off against him, scoring seven runs in two innings.

As a result, Wheeler's ERA shot up from 3.45 to 5.29 and he now stands 3-5 on the season. Until he returns, the Mets recalled Tyler Pill from Triple-A to start against the Dodgers last night, and he fared slightly better, giving up six runs (five earned) across six innings.

Another bright piece of news, Mets pitching kept Cody Bellinger in the park for the first time this series, although the same cannot be said for Yasiel Puig and Yasmani Grandal, who each homered off of Pill.