Zack Wheeler on Mets: ‘No Hard Feelings, Everything Has Kind of Changed Over There’

In his meeting with the media before NLDS Game 1 against the New York Mets, Zack Wheeler wasn't asked about the team declining to pay for him to attend postseason games when he was injured in 2015. 

The topic of the Mets declining to match the five-year/$118 million free-agent deal he signed with the Phillies prior to the 2020 season didn't come up, nor did the disparaging comments former general manager Brodie Van Wagenen made about him after he left. 

Wheeler was asked, though, if it's strange at all to be pitching against the Mets in the postseason. Yes, he's made 15 starts against the Mets since joining the Phillies. He'll be remembered as a Phillie by just about everyone at the conclusion of his career. But this is still the team that he spent the first five seasons of his career with. 

So is it a little weird to be facing the Mets in the postseason, or is Wheeler far enough removed from playing in New York that it feels like any other opponent? 

"Yeah, I mean, it's a little bit of both. It's fun playing against those guys always," Wheeler said. "But at the same time, I've been over here for a while now and there's no hard feelings, everything has kind of changed over there personnel-wise. Like I said, there's no hard feelings, it's just baseball at this point. But at the end of the day, I want to win." 

The Mets Told Injured Zack Wheeler in 2015 To Buy His Own Postseason Tickets - ⁦@OnPattison⁩ https://t.co/jMVwBUNHxl

— Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) October 4, 2024

Not only has almost all of the personnel changed for the Mets on the field over the last five years, but president of baseball operations David Stearns is their top baseball executive, the second person to fill that role since Van Wagenen was fired in November of 2020. The dismissal of Van Wagenen coincided with Steve Cohen buying the team. Cohen hasn't spared any expense since becoming the owner, and almost certainly wouldn't have pinched pennies regarding Wheeler the way that the Wilpon family did on multiple occasions. 

Of course, athletes are famous for using any perceived slight as extra motivation. Michael Jordan comes to mind in this regard, as he would sometimes invent things in his head to be motivated by, even if they had no basis in reality. There are definitely some players who would see the Mets in the opposing dugout and channel prior frustrations, even if the organization is entirely different than it was when he played there. 

Then again, if you need extra motivation at this time of the year, you're in the wrong business. The Phillies have gotten extremely close to winning a title over the last two seasons, but fell short. That should be plenty of motivation for the Phillies.