According to Tim Britton of The Athletic, the New York Mets will be skipping left-hander Jason Vargas‘ spot in the rotation the next time through, keeping their front-end of the rotation on schedule to pitch on five days rest apiece.
With scheduled days off this past Friday, as well as this coming Monday, the team was able to gain some flexibility while also taking advantage of trotting their best two pitchers out against a division rival in the Nationals this week.
Jacob deGrom (0.00 ERA, -0.24 FIP, 16.62 K/9, 1.38 BB/9 over 13 innings) will start on Tuesday evening against the Mets’ first interleague opponent of the season, the Minnesota Twins. Noah Syndergaard (4.50 ERA, 3.75 FIP, 9.75 K/9, 1.50 BB/9 in 12 innings) will take the hill in the two-game series finale on Wednesday.
According to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, the next time Vargas (five innings, two runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and a walk in his season debut victory on April 2 versus Miami) will take the hill (weather permitting) will be next Saturday, April 13, in Atlanta.
Left-hander Steven Matz (5.1 innings, three runs [one earned] on six hits with three strikeouts and no walks in a no-decision on April 1 against the Marlins) will reprise his role as the southpaw to break up the Mets’ top three right-handers next Thursday in the series opener against the Braves.
