LOS ANGELES (AP) - The ailing New York Mets lost a third member of their rotation when right-hander Zack Wheeler was put on the 10-day disabled list Wednesday because of biceps tendinitis.
Wheeler joined starters Noah Syndergaard and Matt Harvey on the DL. Closer Jeurys Familia, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, second baseman Neil Walker, outfielder Juan Lagares and third baseman David Wright are among other Mets now sidelined.
The Mets made the move before playing at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night. Righty Tyler Pill was promoted from Triple-A Las Vegas to start against Los Angeles.
The Mets also called up righty Erik Goeddel and optioned infielder Matt Reynolds to Triple-A.
Only recently did Mets starters Steven Matz and Seth Lugo come off the DL.
“Neither the starting pitching nor the relief pitching is doing very well,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said. “And that’s been true over the last week or so, with the exception of Jacob deGrom.”
“Overall, not a good situation. I think it has a lot to do with where we are in the standings,” he said.
The Mets began the day at 31-39 and 11 games back of Washington in the NL East. The team is hopeful that Wheeler, 3-5 with a 5.29 ERA in 13 starts, will miss only one outing.
Wheeler’s move was retroactive to Tuesday, a day after he was hit hard in a loss to the Dodgers.
Mets manager Terry Collins said the team spoke with Wheeler about his recent pitching struggles, and the pitcher mentioned there were times his biceps had been bothering him.
“We finally said, ’Hey look, why don’t we just give it some rest? Obviously it’s been affecting you,’” Collins said. “We don’t want to cause a major injury. Tendinitis is certainly something you don’t want to mess with.”
After going 11-11 with a 3.54 ERA his sophomore campaign in 2014, Wheeler had offseason Tommy John surgery and missed the past two seasons. Alderson said Wheeler recently had undergone an MRI and CT scan on his biceps.
“We have talked about the fact that laying off for such a long time can decondition a pitcher so that it’s not his original injury but something else - that he’s fatigued or otherwise - that adversely effected his result of coming back,” Alderson said. “But it’s hard to say.”
Collins said he was uncertain who would take Wheeler’s turn in the rotation. Right-handed reliever Rafael Montero is a candidate - he’s 0-4 with a 6.49 ERA.
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