Injury-related pitching woes have been the Spring Training theme f

or the Braves this year"WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Talking Chop User’s GuideTalking Chop PodcastAround the NL EastBaseball Analysis PrimerMinter http://www.dodgersfanproshop.com/authentic-max-muncy-jersey , O’Day likely to start season on Injured ListNew,28commentsInjury-related pitching woes have been the Spring Training theme for the Braves this yearEDTShareTweetShareShareMinter, O’Day likely to start season on Injured ListReinhold Matay-USA TODAY SportsPerhaps not surprising given how the month of March has treated Braves’ pitching depth thus far, but here’s some news from Mark Bowman:Both A.J. Minter and Darren O’Day have, generally, been expected to be among the most productive members of Atlanta’s 2019 bullpen, as well as a couple of guys ticketed for use in higher-leverage situations. However, it looks like them seeing any kind of major league situations may have to wait.Bowman further writes that Minter, who was injured in a fender bender and left a game after facing just one batter on the first day of March, has played catch for three straight days for three straight days with no ill effects, but that there’s a lot of standard rehab appearance-type stuff that jeopardizes his Opening Day status. O’Day, meanwhile, has continued to suffer from forearm discomfort, which has also kept him sidelined since March 1. He hasn’t even been cleared to throw yet, so his timetable is both protracted and very much in flux at this point. O’Day missed much of the 2018 season after undergoing hamstring surgery, so while the good news is that that part of his body appears to be fully healthy, throwing arm injuries for pitchers are no bueno, to say the least. Minter is generally projected to be the Braves’ best reliever this year Sandy Koufax Jersey , with O’Day also solidly placing in the top four, so these are relatively important cogs (though still relief/bullpen cogs) that will end up missing some time.The Braves have many options to fill the roster spots generated by Minter and/or O’Day absences, but the real kicker is that these options may not be better and seem likely to be worse. Bowman speculates that Luke Jackson and Wes Parsons may be the beneficiaries — while Parsons is a bit of an unknown quantity at this point, the on-field production of the relief corps likely takes a hit any time Jackson suits up in lieu of Minter or O’Day. Of course, the Braves have so many arms that they don’t need to use any short-stint reliever to fill a hole created by an injury to another player, as they could load up their bullpen with leftover starter candidates that didn’t make the rotation, and probably not fare much worse for it. We’ll see what happens — stay tuned for more. NEW YORK (AP) — Power pitching, that’s what the New York Mets hope to get from Zack Wheeler.But power hitting?Wheeler connected for his first major league home run and struck out 11 in seven sharp innings as the Mets handed the Philadelphia Phillies their fifth loss in six games, 9-0 on Tuesday night.“Pitching’s obviously first, but we work a lot on our hitting and we take pride in it,” Wheeler said.“We want to go up there and do well as a staff and not give them an easy out. Luckily, I wasn’t an easy out tonight,” he said.For the Phillies, it was another quiet day. Until two outs in the ninth, that is.That’s when Mets reliever Jacob Rhame sailed two fastballs over Rhys Hoskins’ head. The benches started to clear after the first time, and Hoskins angrily slung his bat after the next one, which was ball four.“I understand baseball. They got hit a couple times yesterday,” Hoskins said.But that didn’t make it any easier to accept http://www.dodgersfanproshop.com/authentic-max-muncy-jersey , not after high heat buzzed his helmet. Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud “just said they were trying to go inside and I laughed,” the Philadelphia cleanup man said.No doubt, it could make for tense times in the series finale Wednesday night.Before the late shenanigans, it was the Wheeler show.Wheeler also doubled and drove in three runs and Todd Frazier connected for a grand slam that made it 8-0 in the fifth.“I was like, God, he makes it look easy and I’m trying to get an extra-base hit or get on base,” Frazier said. “It was nice to have him supply the RBIs, give himself a little breathing room and I came in at the end.”Wheeler (2-2) became the majors’ first 100-100 player this season — he hit and pitched a ball at least 100 mph, according to Statcast.“First pitcher ever to do that,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. “That put him over the top, it seems like. And that’s a real stat, by the way, I’m not making that up. He did everything right.”Wheeler did it in his 100th career start, too. He fanned seven straight in the early innings, and gave himself a cushion at the plate.A career .129 hitter, Wheeler lined a two-run double in the second off Zach Eflin (2-3). The next time up, Wheeler did even better, launching a drive over the wall in left-center.Wheeler kept up a surprising longball show by Mets pitchers. Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom also have gone deep this year Hyun-Jin Ryu Jersey , making the Mets the first NL team in more than 110 years to have three pitchers homer in the first 25 games of a season.Frazier broke open the game with his fifth career slam, tagging Drew Anderson. Frazier made his season debut Monday after being slowed by a strained left oblique.Bryce Harper and the Phillies have totaled just two runs while losing three in a row, and were shut out for the first time season. They went down quietly Monday when their last 16 batters were retired, and manager Gabe Kapler said before this game that he wanted to see whether his team would respond with any energy.They didn’t, at least until two outs in the ninth. The closest the Phillies came to scoring was in the fourth when Maikel Franco was thrown out at the plate by left fielder Jeff McNeil on Cesar Hernandez’s single.“Very frustrating,” Kapler said, adding, “It wasn’t good effort.”Hernandez also let an easy grounder roll through his legs with two outs in the second, allowing Wheeler to score from second.Mets relievers Luis Avilan and Rhame finished off the five-hitter.WHEELING ALONGWheeler improved to 35-32 lifetime. He struck out nine of the first 13 batters.QUIET HARPERHarper was hitless in three at-bats, striking out twice before leaving for a substitute. The Phillies star had an uneventful night, a day after his wild rant at an umpire that has Major League Baseball looking at whether he should be penalized.“Hope not. We’ll see,” Harper said.TRAINER’S ROOMPhillies: RHP Victor Arano (elbow inflammation) might be a couple weeks from throwing, Kapler said.Mets: CF Brandon Nimmo exited after three innings because of a left oblique twinge. … SS Amed Rosario didn’t start for the second straight day because of flulike symptoms.UP NEXTPhillies: RHP Vince Velasquez (0-0, 2.55 ERA) hasn’t given up more than two earned runs in any of this three starts this season.Mets: LHP Jason Vargas (1-0, 9.58) pitches while speculation swirls that Gio Gonzalez might be signed to take his spot in the rotation.