VARGAS AWFUL AGAIN AS METS FALL TO BRAVES
Fifth starter records just one out in loss to Braves
ATLANTA – If the Mets want to present themselves as the first-place team in the National League East, they should behave like it.
Lobbing Jason Vargas on the mound every fifth day and hoping for the best, while a quality pitcher sits idly on the ice cold free-agent market, is not going to cut it.
Vargas’ second outing of the season ranks as one of the worst starts of his career. The left-hander couldn’t make it out of the 1st inning of the Mets 11-7 loss against the Braves on Saturday night at SunTrust Park.
The 36-year-old opened the game with a sharp single to Ozzie Albies then walked Josh Donaldson. Vargas got lucky against Freddie Freeman, who hacked at an 86 mph meatball down the middle of the plate that landed as a flyball to center.
Vargas faced just three more batters — allowing an RBI single and two walks — before manager Mickey Callaway meandered from the dugout to take the ball away from his No. 5 starter.
But the damage was done. Vargas allowed four earned runs on two hits with three
walks over 1/3 of an inning on just 36 pitches. He placed a heavy workload on the Mets bullpen – which was taxed with the dilemma of recording 26 outs.
Corey Oswalt, a right-handed reliever the Mets hoped would eat some innings and aid the rest of the Mets bullpen, walked into a basesloaded situation in the 1st. He gave up a two-run single before a double play ended a 39-minute opening frame.
In what could’ve been an opportunity for Oswalt to show the Mets he’s the shortterm No. 5 starter the team needs, he struggled to make outs in the 2nd inning. Oswalt gave up four earned hits on two hits with four walks and two strikeouts over 3.2 innings before handing the ball to Luis Avilan.
The Mets have a blaring weakness in their rotation depth that could be solved by another left-hander: Dallas Keuchel. The 2015 Al Cy Young award winner, fourtime Gold Glover and two-time AllStar with a pair of World Series starts enters April sitting unemployed on the free-agent list.
Keuchel is five years younger than Vargas with a far greater track record of being lights out. Keuchel led the league in starts (34) last season and threw over 200 innings.
If the Mets want to preserve their allowances for their impending needs on the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, the team will have to look within for a replacement on Vargas.