Update: 1:30 PM
Paul Casella, of MLB.com, has reported that Wheeler’s call-up could come as early as this Monday. Casella states
Zack Wheeler’s big-league promotion has seemed imminent for days now with the most recent sign of a looming call-up coming on Monday. ESPN reported Wheeler’s first start would come next Friday.
Jay Horwitz, the club’s vice president of media relations, flew across the country on the team’s off day last Monday to meet with Wheeler in-person and prime him on what to expect following his promotion. Horwitz took to Twitter to comment on the trip once it became public.
“Set a personal record this week with five flights since Sunday. Have got enough frequent flier miles now for a two-week trip to Mexico,” Horwitz tweeted.
Update: 11:00 AM
The Mets are eyeing next weekend’s series against the Chicago Cubs at Citi Field, and specifically next Friday’s series opener, for Zack Wheeler to make his major league debut, a baseball source told ESPN New York.
The date is not set in stone, but is tentatively set.
Original Post 7:30 AM
When righthander Zack Wheeler makes his start tonight against the Tacoma Rainiers, it’s most likely his final tuneup before leaving Las Vegas and heading to Flushing, Queens to make his much anticipated major league debut with the New York Mets.
John Harper of the Daily News caught wind and reported on a what was supposed to be a stealth mission by longtime Mets PR chief Jay Horwitz, who flew to Las Vegas on Monday to meet with Wheeler and reassure him that the Mets organization will do everything it can to ease him into the media spotlight that awaits him in New York.
The primary mission was to “prep Wheeler on the do’s and don’ts of dealing with the big, bad, New York media”, harper writes.
The Mets wanted the trip to be on the down low, but after informing Jay that he knew about the trip, the Mets VP was gracious enough to discuss his top secret mission. “I told Zack, ‘You just worry about pitching,’ ” said Horwitz.
“In my heart I felt it was the right thing to do,” he said. “Jeff (Wilpon) thought it was a good idea.
Wheeler thanked him for coming and that was that, but this was the biggest and most overt sign that the Mets prized prospect is indeed heading to Citi Field to begin his Mets career.
We’re all very excited about that on MMO and I look forward to recapping his first game in what we hope will be a smashing debut.
“Wake up, baby, Wheeler’s game starts in five minutes.”