Days after put-down, he’s back
SO MUCH for the tough talk. The Mets placed Anthony Swarzak on the disabled list Tuesday with strained left oblique muscle and to take his place, they recalled Hansel Robles, who less than two weeks ago they had demoted with pointed comments.
“He’s got good stuff,” manager Mickey Callaway said on March 24 when the Mets optioned Robles to minor-league camp. “But you have got to be able to do the small things that separate yourself from everyone else and if you can’t do that, stuff doesn’t mean anything if you are not taking care of your business.”
In fact, Callaway told the media he had cautioned the 27-year-old right-hander that he would not be back in the big leagues unless they saw improvement.
“It was kind of a shock to him, but he knows he needs to work on some of the small things,” Callaway said of when he told Robles of the demotion. “I don’t know how much he valued it in the past and we just told him, ‘You can go down there and strike out 25 people in a row, but if those things we need you to work on at the bigleague level aren’t taken care of, then we are probably going to pass you by.’ ”
Things certainly have changed since as Callaway praised Robles on Tuesday.
“It was a very short, limited period of time, but he had a couple outings and he did a really good job,” Callaway said. “And he deserved to come back up, so we’re excited that he’s back up. He’s doing a really good job with his delivery, sticking with one delivery and not trying to trick guys. Doing a better job controlling the game, things like that. So we thought he was the right guy (to call up) at this time.”
Swarzak, who the Mets signed to a two-year $14 million deal this winter, was injured on Saturday. He has thrown 2.1 innings this year, allowing one run and striking out three. He missed most of spring training with a calf injury.
VARGAS UPDATE
After throwing a simulated game on Monday, Jason Vargas will throw another one this weekend in Port St. Lucie, Callaway said. Vargas started the season on the DL after a line drive broke a bone in his non-pitching hand during a minor-league game.
— with Ari Gilberg ANDREW SAVULICH/ DAILY NEWS