And there’s Zack right in the middle…

Yesterday afternoon, Adam Rubin wrote a piece that detailed Zack Wheeler‘s upbringing and his relationship with his brothers. Needless to say, I truly enjoyed reading through it and learning more about the young Wheeler. It was a touching story about a sibling rivalry that I always wished I had myself — a little motivation to do better, some competition to bring out the best in me.

Wheeler, who turned 23 a few days ago, talked about the fact that he was often engaged in brotherly banter and playful teasing with his two siblings — who also played baseball — and it encouraged him along the way. He grew up as a Braves fan, as if the picture didn’t give it away, and watched Tom Glavine and John Smoltz pitch often.

Our #1 prospect is described as one of the most laid-back people around, but that all switches off once he takes the mound. The piece talks about how his brothers taught him to switch-hit and be a better hitter. In fact, his brother Barry narrated a story about how good Adam was as a hitter:

“Adam says, ‘Man, I can take you deep,'” Barry recalled. “So Zack says, ‘OK, let’s go down to the school and see.’ So they went down to East Paulding High School. The first pitch — the first pitch — Adam takes him out of the park. He said, ‘Take that.’ I thought that was pretty good. What are the odds?”

I encourage you all to read this piece if you want to appreciate Zack Wheeler the human being more — and just not appreciate his incredible pitching talent. Wheeler may make his debut within the next two weeks as the Robin to Matt Harvey‘s Batman…

Harvey, lightheartedly, about fans linking the two: “I do see the Batman and Robin tweets. He’s going to have to live up to that, I guess. I guess he’s Robin.”

(Photo Credit: ESPN New York, courtesy of the Wheeler Family)