Van Wagenen’s Handling Of d’Aranud, Vargas Is Wrong
There is no escaping the fact Jason Vargas is not a Major League caliber staring pitcher anymore. Since the 2017 All Star Break, he has a 6.14 ERA, and opposing batters are hitting .286/.356/.511. This year, he is 1-1 with a 7.20 ERA, 1.933 WHIP, and a 5.4 BB/9 while averaging 3.1 innings per start.
The only time Vargas was able to go five innings was against the Marlins in pitcher friendly Marlins Park. It should be noted as a team the Marlins have a 69 wRC+ making them one of the worst offenses in all of baseball. Even with a start against the Marlins, opposing batters are hitting .313/.405/.563 off of Vargas.
Vargas is hurting the Mets chances of winning the games he starts, and he is hurting the team’s chances of winning subsequent games because his starts are taxing the bullpen. Fortunately for the Mets, there was a rare April solution.
Gio Gonzalez, who has pitched well in his career at Citi Field, was available. At this point in his career, Gonzalez is not much more than a five inning pitcher. However, when he is used properly, we have seen he can still be a solid piece of a starting rotation. Gonzalez being available was nothing short of a godsend.
However, the Mets didn’t see it as such. For some reason, the Mets remain resolute keeping Vargas in the rotation. It should be noted here Vargas’ former agent is current Mets General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen. It is certainly fair to ask why that matters. We see why it matters with the Mets handling of Travis d’Arnaud.
On Saturday, d’Arnaud had just about the worst game we have ever seen from a Mets catcher. That game put him in the Mackey Sasser/Choo-Choo Coleman category. It was that painful to watch. Even when he did something right like finally getting a hit, he blew it by getting thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double.
In 10 games, d’Arnaud was hitting just .087/.160/.087. Through it all, d’Arnaud’s main calling card has been his pitch framing. Not this year. So far, he has a -0.2 FRAA. When d’Arnaud can’t frame, and he can’t hit, you could understand the Mets wanting to designate him for assignment even if he was needlessly rushed back from injury, and he wasn’t given nearly sufficient time to establish himself.
Overall, the Mets decision to promote Tomas Nido and designate d’Arnaud was a sound decision. The Mets have gone into the season preaching they were going to carry their 25 best players, and they were going to do what it takes to win now.
It’s just odd to see how this philosophy applies to a backup catcher and not a fifth starter. It’s odd how this applies to a player who plays just once a week as opposed to a pitcher who is supposed to pitch every fifth day. It’s odd when you consider Vargas’ starts have much more of a negative and lasting impact on the pitching staff than d’Arnaud has.
When you look at everything, you realize d’Arnaud was a scapegoat for a team which has fallen to .500. More than that, you see a General Manager imposing different standards as to what is acceptable for his former clients than for players who have had different representation.
In the end, you can more than justify designating d’Arnaud for assignment. However, there is no way you can possibly justify how Vargas is getting preferential treatment.
Vargas has a lifetime 4.30 era.
15.7 Career WAR
From 2010-2017 he had era’s of 3.78, 4.25, 3.85, 4.02, 3.71, 3.98, 2.25, 4.17.
2017 First half – 2.62 ERA and All Star
2018 second half – 3.81 ERA which included 7 of 10 starts that got him to the 6th.
Vargas pitches his best when in routine from start to start which he didn’t have in first half 2018.
That half was marred by broken glove hand which necessitated surgery on March 20, 2018 to remove hamate..
He had one start in April, five in May, three in June, one in July. His first game was April 28th. When he returned, he was not ready.
He went on the DL for a calf injury retroactive to 6-20-18. His next start was July 27th.
For 2019, the Mets took him out of a routine skipping starts and even was used out of pen They now fully understand the need to keep him in routine and build up pitch count.
Since he is our 5th starter whether we like it or not, it’s noteworthy that he’s allowed 2 earned runs in his last two starts for a combined 8.2 innings.
He pitched quite well in his last start raising his fastball velo to 88, with good life, and crisp overall pitching with good command and cross fire delivery, 89 pitches. If he keeps pitching like that, he should be able to reach the 6th, and even complete it. With these two starts he cut his ERA from 14.21 to 7.20.
Because Vargas has never relied on velocity to pitch in the majors, (career 87.2 fastball average and 89.0 best which occurred as rookie), he should be able to replicate his 2018 Mets second half which is consistent with his solid performance from 2010-2017 first half.
We would like that to hold us over till June or July, so if we’re in pennant race, we can make better upgrade than Gio whom Mets would only rightly sign if he didn’t expect to be guaranteed starter.
Because of Gio’s declining velocity since 2012 (93.1 average) and now averaging 89-something the last 3 seasons making him soft-tosser he’s had to adapt to being, plus declining innings, he and Vargas are similar though Vargas’s velocity peaks at 88 and Gio hit 91 the other day.
Vargas starts again tonight. Let’s see what happens. I’m particularly looking for crossfire delivery and 88 mph. I would pair Nido with him as we’re discovering Ramos isn’t all that good behind the plate and Nido is.
Speaking of plate, while I believe D’Arnaud deserved a contract coming off TJ surgery and hopefully healthy, he’s been awful with a lack of focus and learning retention, return to bad habits, and warranted DFA. His problem isn’t lack of talent, but poor mental make up which he’s demonstrated repeatedly since his debut in 2013. If it’s a learning disability or ADD, that should be addressed. Mets definitely made the right decision to replace him with excellent defensive catcher who should eventually hit. Our catching core is now better balanced.
On the pitching front, keep an eye on Anthony Kay pitching well in AA. He could potentially be Vargas’s in-house replacement this season.
That’s a lot of words do try to distract from how horrendous he’s been since the 2017 All Star Break.
Vargas pitched well for 3rd consecutive start, this time 5.1 innings. ERA drops now to 5.75. This stretch is similar to his 2018 quality second half, and his career from 2010 through 2017.
My earlier post at 3;35 pm that was awaiting moderation and was a common sense look at Vargas era 2010-2017, his quality Mets 2018 second half, his 2018 first half marred by injury and lack of routine, why he’s pitching well now and that it should continue and could pitch into the 6th if he stays in routine, and that we can upgrade better than Gio in June or July by rightly waiting.
I also commented on DArnaud and Gio, why it was time for Mets to move on from DArnaud and pass on Gio who wanted guaranteed starting job.
I retained my earlier post via screenshot in case it doesn’t show up here.
No, he’s now pitched well for one consecutive start. You are not pitching well if you can’t give a team five innings.
LMAO – one consecutive start?
30 runs. 15 starts.
Keep up with the strawman arguments and ignore that he was overused in 2017, injured in the first half of 2018.
Vargas is making you look just bad – even more so because you are double-downing on stupid statements.
Vargas is making me look bad because he pitched five innings against a bottom five offensive team in baseball?