Frank Viola knows what Zack Wheeler was going through before the highly touted right-handed pitcher made his major-league debut for the Mets on Tuesday night in Atlanta.
“It’s a nerve-wracking time,” said Viola on Tuesday in the visitor’s clubhouse at FirstEnergy Park, where the former 15-year MLB veteran was in town to serve as pitching coach of the Southern Division in the South Atlantic League All-Star Game.
Viola, who was a collegiate star at St. John’s University and a second-round draft choice of the Twins in 1981, remembers what it was like when he made his highly anticipated debut with Minnesota on June 6, 1982, against Baltimore. Viola was the losing pitcher in that game after he allowed three runs on six hits in five innings, but went on to win 176 games with the Twins, Mets, Red Sox and Blue Jays.
Viola is currently in his second season as the pitching coach for the Mets’ South Atlantic League affiliate in Georgia, the Savannah Sand Gnats.
“First of all, I was very lucky I was pitching in Minnesota, which didn’t have 30 beat writers and practically everybody else around me,” said Viola, who grew up in East Meadow, N.Y. “I was in a position where they rushed me up a little too fast for my own good, but it helped me in the long term. They let me learn on the big level. Zack will be ready to go.”
Tuesday was a key day for the Mets franchise as its two prized pitching prospects pitched in the day-night doubleheader in Atlanta. righty Matt Harvey, who has already established him as one of the top pitchers in the majors this season, threw three-hit ball over seven-plus innings with 13 strikeouts as he picked up sixth win of the season in the first game.
Viola did not coach either Harvey or Wheeler, but he has seen both in spring training.
“They’re both very dominating in their own right,” said Viola, who was the 1987 World Series Most Valuable Player and the 1988 American League Cy Young Award winner. “Harvey was first round (in 2010’s draft) so you knew what he was. I think the thing that puts him where he’s at right now is his makeup. He doesn’t think anybody can hit him. He’s just as tough as they come.
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