Ace … and mentor? Phillies’ Zack Wheeler will be there for his new locker neighbor Andrew Painter

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Zack Wheeler can still picture the layout of the Mets’ spring-training clubhouse, circa 2013. Long, rectangle-shaped room. Team captain David Wright’s locker at one end. At the other, a row of five stalls for the starting pitchers: Jon Niese, Dillon Gee, Jeremy Hefner, Shaun Marcum, and 24-year-old rising star Matt Harvey.

“There weren’t any super-big-name guys, but you still felt the presence, you know?” Wheeler recalled Thursday. “They’re big-leaguers. They’re old. Or at least they’re grown men. They’re not 21, like I was. They have families and stuff, and you really don’t have any cares in the world. It’s just different.”

So, when Wheeler heard that Andrew Painter would get an honest-to-goodness chance to claim the Phillies’ fifth-starter vacancy, he spoke with team officials about breaking a spring-training custom of assigning the players lockers in order of their uniform numbers. Instead of putting Painter — No. 76 on his red jersey, No. 1 on the prospect chart — on the far side of the room with fellow non-roster invitees, why not next to Wheeler or co-ace Aaron Nola?

» READ MORE: Andrew Painter shows his potential -- and a new pitch -- in Phillies camp

And that’s how a 19-year-old phenom landed a prime piece of locker real estate alongside the runner-up for the 2021 National League Cy Young Award.

“I just want to make myself available,” said Wheeler, who turns 33 in May. “I know [Nola] is always available. He’s easy to talk to. Just make things as easy as possible for [Painter], so he can just go out there and be himself and throw.”

Of course, Wheeler’s mentorship of the Next Big Thing is secondary to his role as Big Thing Right Now. And when last you saw him, he was walking off the mound with one out in the sixth inning of Game 6 of the World Series in Houston, having fought back arm fatigue to dominate the Astros on the biggest stage possible. When it was all over, not even Wheeler could predict the toll it may take.

But he consulted Phillies head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit to develop an offseason plan. With the Boston Red Sox, Buchheit worked to keep pitchers healthy after playoff runs in 2016 and 2017 and a trip to the World Series in 2018. His advice: Start throwing when you normally do, but ramp up the intensity more slowly.

Wheeler went home to Georgia, took a few weeks off, then picked up a ball and felt, well, fine. He reported to camp without injury concerns, a status that should prompt knocking on the wood paneling that separates his locker from Painter’s.

“I actually started [throwing] a little earlier than I normally do,” Wheeler said. “I don’t know. It was kind of tricky. Just kind of going off the direction of Paul and [pitching coach] Caleb [Cotham]. Paul gave us the plan that he thinks would work best, and that’s how I did it. Nothing crazy.”

» READ MORE: Nine questions for the Phillies as they open spring training

It may have sounded crazy when, at the outset of the offseason, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said the Phillies would hold the final spot for a “youngster.” That could mean 25-year-old lefty Bailey Falter, who posted a 2.36 ERA in six starts late last season while Wheeler was out with elbow tendinitis.

But everyone’s bullish on Painter, recently crowned by Baseball America as the top pitching prospect in the sport. Drafted 13th overall in 2021, he zoomed through the minors last season, with a 1.56 ERA and 155 strikeouts in 103⅔ innings at three levels and finishing at double A. Some team officials believe he might actually be the frontrunner for the job, even though the Phillies haven’t had a 19-year-old pitcher make a start since Mark Davis in 1980.

Just in case anyone doubted that Painter is the main attraction, he threw to star catcher J.T. Realmuto in a bullpen session Thursday that drew a large audience, with none other than owner John Middleton watching from behind the mound.

“It’s moving fast,” Painter said. “Kind of hard to wrap my head around.”

Wheeler has been there. Sort of. He was drafted sixth overall in 2009, a touted prospect who got traded straight-up for Carlos Beltrán in 2011. He attended his first major-league camp a year later and was thankful for the guidance of Gee, in particular, who was willing to show him where to go and answer his questions.

But Wheeler also made a steady progression through the minors. He didn’t crack the Mets’ rotation until June 2013, two weeks removed from his 23rd birthday. Compared to baby-faced Painter, Wheeler was practically a gray beard.

“How old is he? Nineteen, something like that?” Wheeler said, smiling. “That’s a lot different than me. I wasn’t the No. 1 pitching prospect in the minor leagues or whatever. It’s fun hearing about him. It’s fun watching him.

» READ MORE: How the Phillies are creating a road map to get the most out of Andrew Painter now and long term

“It’s tough to be in that position. But you just have to go out there and be yourself and make it easy on yourself. Don’t put too much stress on yourself. Just let your stuff take control and take care of things.”

In 2009, Dombrowski witnessed a similar dynamic in Detroit. Rick Porcello was 20 years old, with one full year of minor-league experience, when he broke camp with the Tigers and benefited from being around Justin Verlander and Edwin Jackson.

“It can be very helpful,” Dombrowski said. “A guy like [Painter] needs to lean on the veteran pitchers. No matter how talented they are, they’ve never been in that situation. I think it’s extremely important to have veterans like Zack and Aaron Nola.”

Wheeler said he “chit-chatted” with Painter as camp opened. The conversations will surely become longer and more involved.

Anything Painter needs, Wheeler will be alongside.

“It’s cool to be able to be on that side of the locker room, be right next to Wheeler, close to Nola, and just kind of be able to talk to those guys just when we’re not doing anything,” Painter said. “It’s definitely cool.”