Mets: Does Zack Wheeler deserve to win comeback player award?

The Mets currently have a pitcher who has a shot at a major award, but it’s not who you think. It’s none other than Zack Wheeler.

Jacob deGrom might be in the running for the Cy Young award, but the obvious choice for Comeback Player has to be Zack Wheeler. He’s been having such a great season for the New York Mets, that it’s a no-brainer for him to receive the award.

The only other Mets player to win was Matt Harvey, which he accomplished in 2015.  He missed all of 2014 as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery and was lights out in 2015.

Through 21 regular season starts, he pitched to a 2.71 ERA and recorded 188 strikeouts over 189.1 innings.

Like Harvey, Wheeler is also recovering from a bad season. He missed the last two and a half months of the season and pitched poorly when he did play.

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Over the course of his 17 starts, he posted a 5.21 ERA, which was the highest of his career by far. His WHIP was also close to 1.6 and he recorded 81 strikeouts over 86.1 innings.

With a month left to go in the 2018 season, not only has Wheeler been healthy, but he has pitched very well, especially after the All-star break. After 25 starts his ERA stands at 3.46, which is very good considering he entered June with his ERA over 5.

Even if he doesn’t pitch as well as he has in September, he’s going to finish the season with 2018 most likely being the best season of his career. His 3.42 ERA in his rookie year was his best ever and he might be able to dip below that after his next start.

His 1.213 WHIP is also a career best so far and his 8.8 is very close to his best.

He’s now made seven starts since the All-star game and holds a crazy 1.17 ERA during that stretch. He’s 4-0 with a 1.09 ERA in four August starts.

If he can keep pitching the way that he has, it’s even possible for his ERA to dip below 3.2 for the season. If that happens, it would be very difficult for fans to think of a better recipient for the award. To go from an injury plagued 5 ERA season to what he’s been doing is an incredible feat.

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If the rest of the season plays out correctly for Wheeler, then deGrom might not be the only Mets player who deserves an award.