Zack Wheeler

Zachary Harrison Wheeler (born May 30, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was drafted by the San Francisco Giants with the sixth overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft. Wheeler was then traded to the Mets in 2011, and made his major league debut with the team on June 18, 2013. Prior to being drafted he attended East Paulding High School in Dallas, Georgia.

Early life

Zack Wheeler was born to Barry, a longtime project coordinator for Georgia Power, and Elaine Wheeler in Smyrna, Georgia. Wheeler has two older brothers, Jacob and Adam. The Wheeler family was gifted athletically. Adam was selected by the New York Yankees in the 13th round of the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft and pitched in their farm system for four years before his career was derailed by injury. Barry also played in a men's baseball league while Elaine lettered in varsity basketball and softball during all four years of high school and continued to play softball competitively as an adult. Wheeler's brothers are both nearly ten years older than him and pushed him to excel in sports from a young age; at the age of two years, his brothers taught him to dribble a basketball, throw a baseball and switch-hit.