New York Mets should get creative with Tyler Bashlor, Jason Vargas

Some creative thinking by the New York Mets could help two pitchers. By implementing the strategy of an “opener” they may get the best out of Tyler Bashlor and Jason Vargas.

The New York Mets season is lost, but that doesn’t mean they should fall on their own sword and nix any creative thinking. I give this franchise at least a little credit in this department. They began the season with a nice plan for the bullpen, utilizing Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo as multi-inning threats. Attempting to turn Dominic Smith into an outfielder also deserves a light tip of the cap as it opened up more opportunities for him in the future.

One creative idea the Mets should think about is how to use Tyler Bashlor and Jason Vargas for the rest of 2018. Vargas, in particular, needs a change. By stealing a page out of the Tampa Bay Rays playbook, we could see the Mets jump on board with one of the strangest ways to manage a rotation.

You’ve probably heard the term “opener” by now. The Rays created the new bullpen role this year due to a lack of starting pitching depth. Instead of beginning the game with a traditional starter, either a hard or funky-throwing reliever enters the game in inning one with the expectation to last for no more than two innings.

The results have been quite promising. I’m interested to see the Mets give it a try.

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Bashlor and Vargas are two candidates to participate. Bashlor throws hard which could make him an effective opener. His powerful right arm could shock hitters for the first two frames. The rookie flame-thrower has yet to find his strikeout pitch in the big leagues. However, in his minor league career, Bashlor landed many strike three calls.

Inning three would begin with a much different pitcher on the mound. At this stage, Vargas would enter. As a softer-tossing lefty who pitches to contact (this year, with disappointing results), hitters would see a bigger change by their second at-bat. The expectation for Vargas would be to last four or five innings. Considering he has gone all of 2018 without recording an out in the sixth inning, this is a low yet fair bar to set.

I’m fond of this experiment because of how poorly Vargas has performed in the first inning. He has a horrendous 15.88 ERA in inning one with a .464/.500/.714 slashing line against. Half of the men he faces in inning one are reaching base. Something needs to change.

Certainly, moving Vargas’ first inning to the third could have the same side effects. Just because it’s later in the game doesn’t mean Vargas pitches better. He has been almost as bad in the third inning this season anyway, with a 13.06 ERA.

It’s something to think about. The final few weeks of 2018 are a time to experiment and see how each piece on the board fits in best. Vargas clearly doesn’t belong in the starting rotation. Perhaps using him in a different way could have a greater benefit.

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Bashlor would also get more regular innings as can other younger Mets relievers. The limited risks outweigh any bad that could come from trying something new.

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