Today, New York Mets’ manager Mickey Callaway alluded to the possibility of using a six-man rotation whenever Jason Vargas returns from the disabled list.
In a quote from Tim Britton of The Athletic, Callaway said, “It’s one of the many decisions we have to make when looking at it,” referring to the possibility of simply adding Vargas to the current Mets’ rotation.
If the team were to not go to a six-man rotation, one of Steven Matz, Matt Harvey, or Zack Wheeler would likely be removed as Vargas will at least get a few starts in the rotation after inking a two-year contract this offseason, while Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom are simply too valuable in the rotation.
Vargas, 35, has been sidelined since the final week of Spring Training with a broken hamate bone in his non-throwing hand. After undergoing surgery, Vargas has kept to his throwing regimen.
For a while he was long-tossing and pitching coach Dave Eiland was catching the return throws. Vargas has since moved up to pitching intrasquad games.
Tuesday in Port St. Lucie, the left-hander threw six innings from behind a screen, not allowing a hit and striking out twelve.
In a comment from Mike Puma’s article in the New York Post earlier today, Mickey Callaway said this about Vargas’ outing, “He had great command and was hitting all his spots.”
Zack Wheeler, who’s pitched to a 2.77 ERA in two starts (13 innings) since making his debut April 11 in Miami, has been presumed by some as the odd-man out when Vargas does return.
After battling his way through six innings in Tuesday night’s loss to Washington, Wheeler spoke (Kristie Ackert, New York Daily News) about making a move to the bullpen if the team needs him there, “I want to be here and be on this team. Whether it is helping in the bullpen or starting. I want to be here.”
It seems that Callaway is considering all of his options, at the very least.
