And it Begins — Zack Wheeler’s Elbow “Tender”

Zack Wheeler, the missing fifth cog from the Mets dream rotation, is experiencing elbow “tenderness” and was not allowed to throw on Wednesday.

According to the once-proud Daily News, pitching coach Dan Warthen said Wheeler, who has not pitched in the majors since Tommy John surgery two long years ago, experienced the soreness after throwing a bullpen session on Tuesday. Instead of throwing again today, he will toss lightly on Thursday and hopefully pitch another bullpen session on Friday.

The Mets do not seem concerned.

“He just amped it up,” a Mets source said. “He was out there throwing with the other guys for the first time and probably went harder than he had in a while. It wasn’t unusual, they are just being cautious.”

If this sounds familiar to you, it should. Every Mets injury publicly starts as nothing. But then it just keeps getting worse. Now, it is the first week of Spring Training, so a little soreness is not unusual. But we’ve seen this act before. Let’s hope this is indeed nothing. How long do we have to keep waiting for our Rotation of Aces?