#41 Zack Wheeler

New York Mets

DOB: 5/30/1990

Previous Rank: N/R

ETA: 2014

Wheeler was traded straight up for Carlos Beltran in July and was sent immediately to High Class A St. Lucie where he posted a 2.00 ERA with a 31:5 K:BB ratio in 27 innings.  Those numbers were considerably better than those from the 88 innings he threw in the California League before the trade.  Nevertheless, Wheeler immediately became the top prospect in the Mets organization, and at just 21 years of age, he should be in the rotation at Citi by 2014.

Wheeler features a fastball that sits consistently around 94-95 mph with the ability to reach back for 97 mph.  His best secondary pitch is a true 60 curveball with good 12-6 shape and about 15 mph off of the heater.  His third pitch is a changeup that is far behind the other two pitches at this point due primarily to an inability to maintain arm speed or slot.  The pitch has arm side life with sink, though, and has a chance to be a useable pitch with just minor improvement.

His 6-foot-4 frame is lanky and projectable and might still allow him to pick up a tick on the fastball.  Wheeler should begin the year in Double-A and might push that ETA up a bit, but the Mets are the worst team in the East and have no business rushing either Wheeler or Harvey in our opinion.  The good news for fans in Queens is that the Mets appear to finally have real pitching prospects with real top-of-the-rotation upside.

I hope everyone enjoyed his or her holiday weekend as much as I did.  Lots of exciting things happening over Labor Day weekend, so let’s jump right in.

- I finally caved and joined Twitter.  Follow me @sp_flips to get up to date info and nonsense.

- So much for having a bunch of exciting finishes across multiple divisions this year.  With the Giants, Indians, White Sox, and Cardinals failing to gain any ground whatsoever; it appears as if the only exciting race might be the AL West.  Unless the Rays can somehow make a run for the wildcard in the AL East, that is.

- George who?  Kottaras? What a special night it was for the back-up catcher.  Hitting for the cycle is rare enough, but how rare is it to see a back up catcher do it?  I am not completely sure, just sure enough to say that you probably won’t see it happen again in your lifetime.

- Seeing old Charlie Manuel play a game under protest took me back to my youth summer league days.  Did he have to put up a $100 cash like my coaches did?  Or do you think the front office covered it for him?

- Congrats to Adrian Beltre- now the youngest 3B to ever amass 2,000 hits.  Just imagine what could be if he knew how to stay healthy?  Wow.

- Watching Josh Beckett go down was rough.  Not only does he play on my fantasy squad, but he also proliferated the notion that pitchers are not athletes.  Just watch this and tell me where/how he hurt himself. (FF to the 21-second mark.)

- How about Javier Vazquez?  Dude has been looking like it’s 2009 again.  Make sure nobody steals his Delorean.

- I can only imagine the silence in the Jays front office boxes as Brett Lawrie did this.

- Have a great day everybody, and remember…there are only 4 days left in this workweek.

Bottom 2: Cody Ross struck out swinging against Cliff Lee

Bottom 4: Ross struck out swinging against Lee

Bottom 7: Ross struck out swinging against Lee

Bottom 9: Ross called out on strikes against Lee

Final Line: 0-for-4, 4 K, 3 LOB

Notes: On Thursday night Ross fanned against CLee in all four at-bat and became the second player to notch a sombrero in that manner this season.  Even though he may be known around Philly as SORRYDOC, the 2010 NLCS MVP was hardly a threat against Lee.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 85

That’s right, Torres looks like one of the Backstreet Boys. It took me awhile to put my finger on this one, but after four episodes of ‘The Franchise’ on Showtime, it finally clicked.  I must admit: this is a pretty good one.

Be on the lookout for a few more MLB Look-alikes that will be posted over the weekend.

• In the wake of the MLB Futures Game, John Sickels dedicated one of his ‘Prospect Profile’ installments to the Rays’ Matt Moore.  Moore was the most impressive pitcher at the Futures Game, and at the rate he’s going may force the Rays’ hand earlier than anticipated. Since entering the Minor Leagues in 2007, Moore has compiled a 615/192 K/BB ratio over 439 innings and really has nothing left to prove at Double-A.  On Tuesday morning Moore was promoted to Triple-A, which leads me to believe that we will see him in the pros fairly soon.  Since the Rays have been rumored to have most of their starters on the trading block, maybe they want to get Moore several starts at Triple-A before someone is dealt and he gets the call…Just a thought.

• ESPN prospect guru Keith Law recently updated his Top 50 Prospects list, and because guys like Dustin Ackley, Mike Trout, Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas have all received promotions, it has a much different look.  Kevin Goldstein over at Baseball Prospectus also reorganized his Top 50 list, which is a much bolder (and exciting) list if you ask me.

• Jonah Keri argues that the Angels gave Mike Trout the call too soon.  Currently hitting .125 (and granted that it’s only through six games), Trout is yet to truly flash all his tools.  And according to Keri, the news of Peter Bourjos hitting the DL may only intensify the 19-year-old’s early struggles.

• On July 11, Braves’ outfielder Stefan Gartrell slugged 16 total home runs to win the Triple-A Home Run Derby.  His opponent in the final round: 17-year-old high school junior Kayden Porter.  Using an aluminum bat, the 6-foot-5, 250-pound first baseman dropped 14 bombs, one of which traveled an estimated 545 feet and cleared the batter’s eye in center.

• Also at Fangraphs, Matt Klassen explores the potential reasons why the Indians are yet to call up Jason Kipnis.  Regarded by many as a more projectable prospect than teammate Lonnie Chisenhall and with Minor League numbers comparable to those of Dustin Ackley, Kipnis’ arrival is imminent. Like Klassen, I say the sooner the better.

• Playing for Triple-A last night, San Francisco Giants prospect Brandon Belt turned in an ugly and disconcerting performance: 0-for-4 with four strikeouts and a walk – a golden sombrero. In 190 Minor League at-bats this season, Belt has struck out 30% of the time but maintains a 20.8% BB/PA.  The Crazy Crabbers explore whether the Giants should recall him with Aubrey Huff slumping, or if the kinks should be smoothed out before he’s forced to face big league pitching.