New York Mets: Time to Move on From Jason Vargas

The New York Mets claim that they are “all-in” this season. How can that be if they keep sending Jason Vargas to the mound every fifth game?

The New York Mets pitching staff as a whole has not been off to a great start this season. The pitching staff has been able to get away with a slow start because of their offense. Not exactly what fans were expecting with big names like Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard leading the staff. While, the organization can expect their two aces to turn things around, the same cannot be said about Jason Vargas.

The Mets have shown an extreme amount of confidence in Vargas that seems unwarranted. Last year with the team, Vargas posted a 7-9 record with a 5.77 ERA. He’s probably a player they should have at least considered finding a replacement for.

Showing faith in Vargas for another season seems to have already come back to bite the New York Mets. In his last outing, he couldn’t even get through the first inning. Vargas threw 36 pitches, gave up four runs and only recorded a single out.

Manager Mickey Callaway remains committed to the starter. His only solution is to push Varas’ next start back a day. That just seems like the team is trying to avoid the inevitable for as long as possible. The New York Mets can’t win with Vargas on the mound and pushing back his starts will not fix the problem.

Unfortunately for the Mets, Vargas’ start will no longer be pushed back because Jacob deGrom is suffering from strep throat and his start has to be pushed back, so the lefty will take his regular turn. In an interview with Mike Francesa, general manager Brodie Van Wagenen insisted that they’re going to stick with Vargas “as long as he’s competitive and giving us a chance.”

More from New York Mets

Van Wagenen insisted that he would put out the best roster possible based off merit. This was why fan favorite Pete Alonso made the Opening Day roster despite not making a September call up the prior season. Based off of that thinking, Vargas has not done much to justify his roster spot.

In a game against the Minnesota Twins, on April 9, Vargas was brought in as a relief pitcher. He didn’t fare much better in that role, giving up four runs. He is not getting done as a starter now as a reliever making fans wonder why is he still on this roster.

It seems more like punting a game with Vargas on the mound rather than waiting to see if he is going to turn it around. The team could replace him immediately with their long relievers such as Seth Lugo or Robert Gsellman, but that severely makes their bullpen worse.

Many fans want the organization to look outside of their roster at free agents like Dallas Keuchel. The Mets have supposedly stayed in contact with Keuchel, but it appears they may need to do a little more than that. Other teams have Keuchel on their radar as well.

Next. Jets 3 round mock draft compilation. dark

It’s time the Mets act now instead of waiting to see if maybe Jason Vargas can survive a game past the first inning.

Home/New York Mets