Wheeler: Torn Ligament, Tommy John Surgery Likely

[Gwreck]

As reported by Jared Diamond of Wall Street Journal.

https://twitter.com/jareddiamond/status/577470516900073472

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Consarn it.

Summon the Undergaard

[Lefty Specialist]

Well, poop.

So do they do the Mets thing and start stretching out Dillon Gee, or do they start the clock on Thor or Matz on Opening Day? Inquiring minds wanna know.

[Edgy MD]

I assume that they'll launch the Gee rocket and start the countdown on Viking I.

Sandy's restraint on Gee market looking wise, I guess.

[nymr83]

Sorry to see Wheeler go down, I thought he was really getting it together and about to become that 200-inning #2 starter we all thought he'd be.

Thankfully Sandy didn't trade Dillon Gee for a bag of balls as requested by some impatient fans, so the Mets can still keep the prospects on whatever plan they were originally on. no need to hit the panic button folks!

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: I assume that they'll launch the Gee rocket and start the countdown on Viking I. Sandy's restraint on Gee market looking wise, I guess.

yeah. I suspect both A. He suspected someone would get hurt. (safe bet) and B. never got an offer he really liked.

I also think having Thor or Matz or everyone pitching well in the minors doesn't have the same sort of desperation for Sandy that having 6 guys in the offseason does. It keeps other teams calling though.


I'm not sure you have to go right to Syndergaard either. In fact I'm pretty sure of it. A few starts in April for Gee is certainly fine, or even Montero who's already been up.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Good grief! I agree that it will probably be Gee at least into May, with Montero as the next guy in line in another starter is injured in April or early May. The Mets will want to delay starting the clock on Matz and/or Syndergaard.

[Lefty Specialist]

One wonders if he hung on to Gee because he knew this was going to happen. An off-season MRI clears him to pitch and then suddenly he's got a torn ACL....makes you wonder if they saw something and were willing to let him pitch through it.

[Centerfield]

Edgy MD wrote: I assume that they'll launch the Gee rocket and start the countdown on Viking I. Sandy's restraint on Gee market looking wise, I guess.

Exactly. This is why you can't ever have enough starting pitching.

I've always felt that Wheeler would be the disappointment of the new crop of pitchers. Hope he comes back strong.

Gee holds down the fort until the young guns are ready.

[Edgy MD]

Crazy thought, but with all the ambiguity around the diagnosis until Dr. James Andrews came in and made the definitive pronouncement, doesn't it seem that the pool of trusted experts with regard to this diagnosis seems dangerously shallow.

Frank Jobe is gone. Dr. Andrews is 72. Dr. Altcheck, for whatever reason, didn't get the job done on Hefner, and and Andrews had to scrub in for the second surgery. Andrews, Andrews, Andrews. That seems like a lot of elbows and a lot of teams' fates depending on one guy's expertise.

And of course, when the diagnostician and the surgeon are the same guy, there can be a motivation there to recommend surgery perhaps more often than is necessarily in the player's interest.

[nymr83]

I suspect Dr Andrews is busy enough, and rich enough, that he has no need to create business for himself in that way.

[Edgy MD]

Sure, but you don't have to be explicitly corrupt to fall that way on a close call. It's just psychology, man! Guys with hammers look for nails. Guys with rakes look for leaves.

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: Sure, but you don't have to be explicitly corrupt to fall that way on a close call. It's just psychology, man! Guys with hammers look for nails. Guys with rakes look for leaves.

Well sure. "That's a tear, you should fix it." Tanaka, for one, disagreed. Harvey gave it a few weeks before deciding.

Don't both Niese and Gee have small tears?

You call a dermatologist about a red spot and he's gonna tell you to put cream on it. You go to the doctor with the sniffles and you'll probably get some antibiotics, you show up pregnant they're gonna suggest you deliver the..wait, maybe that last one's different.

[Edgy MD]

My real concern is not to suggest that Dr. Andrews is in any way not above board (he and Jobe may possibly deserve to be in the Hall of Fame), but rather to suggest that a small pool of experts is not ideal to the advancement of the field.

[Centerfield]

Anyway, just get it done now. Be ready for Opening Day 2016. See if Dr. Andrews will give us a discount since we are doing 2 at the same time.

[Ceetar]

Centerfield wrote: Anyway, just get it done now. Be ready for Opening Day 2016. See if Dr. Andrews will give us a discount since we are doing 2 at the same time.

Iffy timing. He won't/shouldn't be ready for 2016. Probably more like the ASB but because the season will be ongoing there will be more pressure to 'rush' him back though there is some suggestion that a longer recovery period is much better.

[Lefty Specialist]

[Guest themetfairy]

Damn!

[ashie62]

Crap.

I have a feeling we may see more Thor Montero and Matz than I would have guessed.

[ashie62]

Edgy MD wrote: My real concern is not to suggest that Dr. Andrews is in any way not above board (he and Jobe may possibly deserve to be in the Hall of Fame), but rather to suggest that a small pool of experts is not ideal to the advancement of the field.

FWIW This Dr. Khalfayan from Seattle. There is some interesting info on the procedure and names of pro clients.

http://drkhalfayan.com/testimonials/

[smg58]

... and this is why you don't trade surplus pitching depth too quickly.

Having Dillon Gee back in the rotation makes this something a lot less than a disaster. Syndegaard and Matz can still replace Gee and Colon when they are ready to do so.

Montero is in an interesting position, because the pen might need him now too -- I don't see the Mets bringing two lefties north without Edgin, and Gee is no longer a pen option -- but he's more majors-ready right now than Syndegaard or Matz if something else happens to the rotation. Plus, I'm very leery of stretching a guy out after shortening him up.

[Edgy MD]

I don't think Gee or Montero have been actively shortened up. Or that anything irreversible has been done to their endurance gene.

[smg58]

I'm not suggesting that they were. But I do think circumstances have forced a decision to be made on Montero's role sooner that Alderson and Collins would have preferred, that the decision is a difficult one, and that either direction they go with him carries some risk.

[Frayed Knot]

We should just start referring to those Mets who have NOT had TJ surgery as 'The Unsullied'.





'Game of Thrones' reference for those unfamiliar

[Zvon]

Shit. The air is escaping from my bubble and it's only Spring.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Lefty Specialist wrote: One wonders if he hung on to Gee because he knew this was going to happen. An off-season MRI clears him to pitch and then suddenly he's got a torn ACL....makes you wonder if they saw something and were willing to let him pitch through it.

That's what I'd suspect; that Wheeler's condition had worsened to the point that it made sense to hold onto the surplus pitching (Gee) as insurance specifically for Wheeler.

[TransMonk]

I'm not sweating it since we have such a stockpile of starters. It makes Sandy look good for not letting Gee go for just anything.

I'm hoping this won't effect Wheeler's availability for any of 2016...but I fear it probably will.

[Guest themetfairy]

Not my bubble. I like Zack and I'm sad about losing him, but I don't feel as devastated as I did when Harvey went down. I think we can weather this loss more easily.

[nymr83]

themetfairy wrote: Not my bubble. I like Zack and I'm sad about losing him, but I don't feel as devastated as I did when Harvey went down. I think we can weather this loss more easily.

Well for one Harvey is the better player, but the fact that very few people seem to be panicking right now is a pretty strong testament to the organization that Sandy built. When Harvey went down you heard that this would push the Mets contention dreams back a year, there is none of that talk today thanks to the depth of the system

[Edgy MD]

I dunno. I've witnessed several online statements of utter despair and hopelessness already. Not a lot of Gee Love (or even Special Sauce) bubbling up out there.