Jason Wheeler
|
Position:
RHP
Born:
10/27/90
Height:
6'6"
Weight:
255
B/T:
L/L
Acquired:
Drafted in the eighth round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft (MIN).
Most Recent Stats at Time of Debut
| 4-1 with a 4.50 ERA in eight games, seven of them starts, at Rochester (Triple-A), striking out 37 while walking 10 and allowing 47 hits in 44 innings. |
Info & MLB Debut Date
|
Contract purchased from Rochester on May 29 when RHP Justin Haley went on the 10-day DL. MLB Debut Date: 05/30/17 |
Debut Details
| May 30, in a 7-2 loss to the Astros. The last of three pitchers on the night, he allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits over two innings, walking two. Of 29 pitches, 16 were for strikes. Coming on in relief of left-handed reliever Buddy Boshers to start the eighth inning, he got Carlos Beltran to line out to left field before walking Brian McCann. However, he then induced Marwin Gonzalez to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning. In the ninth, he retired Yulieski Gurriel on a grounder to third and Alex Bregman on a liner to center before George Springer dropped an infield single to first. Josh Reddick followed by drawing a walk, and Jose Altuve's infield single to shortstop allowed Spring to score. Carlos Correa then singled to left to drive in Reddick before Beltran lined out to short to end the inning. |
Player Notes
| A late-summer sign out of Loyola Marymount in 2011 who did not make his pro debut until 2012, Wheeler had been a workhorse starter for the Twins as he's worked his way up the organizational ladder. In 2016, between Chattanooga (Double-A) and Rochester, he combined to go 12-7 with a 3.30 ERA in 28 starts, striking out 135 and walking just 40 in 169 1/3 innings while giving up 157 hits, leading the organization in both innings and starts. The previous summer, at the same two stops, he'd gone 5-10 with a 5.43 ERA in 25 starts, striking out 90 in 137 2/3 innings, walking 40 but giving up 160 hits. After a 15-inning game on Sunday, the Twins needed to shore up the bullpen and Wheeler got the call. He was designated for assignment the next day, and then traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for cash on June 3, and the Dodgers promtly optioned him back to Triple-A the same day. |