MiLB.com has a nice interview up with Zack Wheeler discussing his progress in 2011 with his breaking stuff, his mechanics, and playing baseball with his older brothers growing up.

On his early baseball memories:

We would be in the backyard before they went to their Little League games when I was like 3 years old, just this little kid. I would put on these huge shin guards that were for a grown person and a chest protector and a mask and they would just throw the ball at me because I wanted to get hit by it every day.

And his introduction to New York’s passionate fans.

MiLB.com: I heard a story that when you got traded to the Mets. Did your number of Twitter followers exploded?

Wheeler: Yeah. I went from San Jose where they have an awesome fan base and they are die-hard and they love their players. I had like 3,500 followers which is pretty good, but as soon as I got traded my phone started blowing up and I had to hurry up and turn off that email from Twitter that tells you every time you get a new follower.

It was just blowing up. I got back on two hours later, and people were asking me so many questions about the trade. I had like 7,000 followers and I was like, “Oh my gosh, I guess I am with a New York team now. Everybody loves me.”