On the heels of Zack Wheeler‘s promotion, we asked Lynn Worthy to compare Wheeler and Matt Harvey. Worthy has been lucky enough to see both of our future studs pass through Binghamton within these last two years.
You were fortunate enough to see both Matt Harvey in 2011 and Zack Wheeler in 2012 pitch for the B-Mets. What are some of the similarities and differences, and based on your own observations how do they compare?
The obvious similarities were how hard they threw (hitting 96 miles per hour regularly), the fact that they were highly-touted prospects before they got here, and how after a few starts opposing hitters just started jumping on the first fastball they saw from each of them. For that matter, that all applies to Jeurys Familia when he was here too.Harvey wasn’t as consistently dominant in Binghamton as Wheeler was. Remember Harvey came here during his first pro season, and he came after starting the season at St. Lucie. He made 12 starts in Binghamton, and in several starts he didn’t make it late into games because of his pitch count. He’d have rough innings where he’d walk batters early in games because – as he even admitted – he would try to establish all his pitches right away.Harvey actually only threw more than five complete innings twice with the B-Mets. He hit 10 strikeouts once. He didn’t record a win until his seventh start. He’d have starts where he’d struggle a little early and then be overpowering an inning later.He was very intense. I still recall talking to him after his final start – he went just three innings, gave up four runs and walked four – and he wanted no part of talking about the season as a whole. All he could do was boil over his last start.Wheeler began the season here, and he was dominating almost right away. He made 19 starts here and went five innings or more in 16 of them. At times he struggled to command certain pitches, but he still seemed to find a way to get guys out. He rarely got hit hard. He only gave up two home runs, and one came in his last start in Binghamton.It seems to me that Wheeler fluctuated more in sharpness and command of his off-speed pitches. He threw some curveballs and sliders that were absolutely nasty at times, and other starts they were just okay. However, he seemed to be able to adjust within the game and get through five, six, seven innings. Even on bad days, he jammed hitters and broke bats.When you looked at Wheeler, he didn’t give off the intensity that Harvey did. However, Wheeler always seemed confident in his stuff even when he didn’t have his best.
In a weird way, Worthy might have confirmed the ideas that surround the two young pitchers. Harvey did not dominate at every level when he moved through the minor leagues — and turned it up into high gear once he hit the majors. Wheeler has more expectations on him because of that, and they’re not all justified.
“When you looked at Wheeler, he didn’t give off the intensity that Harvey did. However, Wheeler always seemed confident in his stuff even when he didn’t have his best.” I’m under the impression we’re going to see two successful pitchers who are starkly different in terms of temperament going ahead. Wheeler was always touted as having better stuff than Matt Harvey — but the poise that Harvey carries himself with on the mound has given up the leg up on the two so far.
Thoughts from Matt M.
Confidence. That’s the one word that stuck with me the most from what Worthy said when comparing Harvey and Wheeler. Not that Harvey doesn’t have confidence in his stuff (it’s pretty clear he does), but with a much different personality, Worthy was still able to see that confidence in Wheeler. Even with some of his struggles in Vegas this season, especially at the start of the year, we never saw or heard him panic about it once.
This calm confidence Wheeler has will be an integral part of his development at the major league level. There will be days when he struggles, and he needs to know himself well enough to figure out how to come back and be effective the next time he takes the mound. Harvey knows what he needs to do to bounce back, and it looks like Wheeler knows as well. They each have a different approach, but I think it will end up yielding successful results.
To follow Lynn’s reporting on the Binghamton Mets, you can follow his B-Mets Blog, or on Twitter: @PSBLynn.