Collins: Wheeler's elbow bothered him in 'a lot of games' last year

Terry Collins is happy Zack Wheeler spoke up this time. New York Mets fans are less than thrilled at what he had to say.

Wheeler, who was scratched from his start because of a tender right elbow and reoccurring blister under his fingernail, was sent for an MRI on Saturday less than 24 hours after the team insisted he was fine. 

"It's always a precaution," Collins told reporters of the team's decision to move forward with additional testing. "You can go in there right now and if someone's back is sore they’re going to get one tomorrow."

The Mets described Wheeler's elbow issue as tendinitis on Friday and admitted the young right-hander battled through it last year en route to a career-high 185 1/3 innings. Collins said the issue did not affect his second-half performance, but the 24-year-old tried to pitch through it several times.

"No. 1, there are a lot of games he pitched with his elbow bothering him," Collins said. "So we know it’s been there. We know he’s had this issue before. That’s why I’m very glad he spoke up now, because we’ve got enough time to back him up a little bit and still get him to where he needs to be."

Collins said that although the team isn't overly concerned with Wheeler's elbow, his delivery leaves him susceptible to occasional discomfort.

"He has such tremendous torque on his arm," Collins said, "there's always going to be issues.”