New York Mets will forgo Jason Vargas’ next start

Mets pitcher Jason Vargas has had a tumultuous start to the season, and he won’t be getting the nod this week against the Blue Jays. 

Through Jason Vargas‘ first three starts of his second fiddle with the Mets, he has given up a whopping 19 earned runs through 12.1 innings pitched. He has not lasted more than 5 innings in any of his starts and has a bloated ERA of 13.86.

Thanks to timely off-days on Thursday and this upcoming Monday, the Mets decided to give Vargas an extra couple of days to get his mechanics down pat and sort out the mess he made for himself.  In place of Vargas, Zack Wheeler will take the mound and he looks to build off his strong previous start.

Over the offseason, Vargas signed a two-year deal worth $18 million. He was supposed to provide depth and support in the Mets rotation, but he has done neither through the first month of the season.

Vargas, who was an All-Star selection last year, started the 2017 season with a 12-3 record and a 2.62 ERA. After his hot start, he quickly cooled down and finished the year at 18-11.

He wasn’t able to get into a rhythm to start the year. This was partly because of his first Spring Training start of the year. In that game, he took a hard liner to his hand.

He was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture of the hamate bone in his non-pitching hand. This occurred on March 18th and he was supposed to start throwing again just five days after the injury.

Obviously, this was not the case with Vargas. He wasn’t able to start his first regular season game until April 28th in San Diego and was lit up. He couldn’t find his footing in his following two starts, so the Mets opted to skip his start on Tuesday.

Instead of pitching against the Blue Jays on Tuesday, Mickey Callaway said Vargas will pitch in a simulated game, which will give him room to make mistakes.

"“This will give him an opportunity where if he leaves one over the plate, he can [say], you know what, let’s reset it and try it again and get a feel for making the right pitch.”"

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The Mets hope Vargas can turn this rough start to the season around and address some issues this week. His earliest possible date to return to the rotation is May 23rd.