Zack Wheeler

Zachary Harrison Wheeler (born May 30, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). Between 2013 and 2019, he played in MLB for the New York Mets. Wheeler was born to a baseball-playing family in Smyrna, Georgia, but moved to Dallas, Georgia, shortly before the start of high school. There, he pitched for East Paulding High School, leading the team to a state playoff appearance in 2009 and pitching a no-hitter against Mill Creek High School. The San Francisco Giants selected Wheeler sixth overall in the 2009 MLB Draft, and he elected to sign with the team rather than honoring his previous college baseball commitment for Kennesaw State. Wheeler played for the Giants' minor league teams in 2010 and 2011 before he was traded to the Mets in July 2011. After the trade, Wheeler rose through the Mets' farm system, making his major league debut in 2013. His performance in 2013 and 2014 was considered a highlight of the Mets' overall disappointing seasons, but Wheeler's development came to a sudden halt after he tore his ulnar collateral ligament during spring training in 2015. He underwent Tommy John surgery for the injury, and was expected to return partway through the 2016 season, but a series of setbacks during the rehabilitation process kept Wheeler from returning to the mound until 2017.