Jason Vargas‘ start against the Twins was delayed by a rain delay that saw no rain and no tarp on the field, which pushed his start back by roughly 30 minutes.
After Vargas finally got started in the home half of the first, he walked the leadoff hitter Mitch Garver on six pitches, but would record a fielder’s choice and two lineouts to end the inning. Vargas’ second inning of work saw him give up a run, three hits, and a lot of other loud contact.
All there was to gain from Vargas’ inning was an early deficit. Vargas saw some issues with leaving pitches over the plate and missing spots early on, which would cost him in the second inning and in innings to follow.
After being given run support in the third with a game-tying home run from Amed Rosario, he handed the lead right back after giving up a solo home run to Nelson Cruz. Vargas would settle down in the third, setting the opposition down in order with a popout, flyout, and strikeout in that order.
Vargas would enter the fifth inning having retired five in a row, and set down Luis Arraez to reach six in a row. On the very next pitch, he gave Mitch Garver a pitch to hit, which he promptly deposited into the bullpen out in left field. Garver’s 15th home run put the Twins back in the lead.
He would retire the next five batters he faced to end his day with six innings of three-run baseball. He would allow five hits (three earned), a walk, and four strikeouts on 88 pitches, 62 of which were strikes.
The veteran lefty has enjoyed more success this season than he did in 2018, and the one notable that stands out for Vargas is the drop-off in usage of his curveball and the jump in changeup usage. The curveball was used 16.1% of the time last year, but has been used only 12.8% this season. His changeup is now being thrown 35.2% of the time, a large rise from 29.6% of the time last season.
While velocity has dropped on all of his pitches according to Fangraphs, he is also using his fastball more and his sinker less. Vargas is throwing the fastball 30% of the time after using it 18% of the time last season. He has cut back on his sinker usage, going from 36% to 33% over the course of the last two years.
Vargas is tentatively scheduled to toe the rubber again at Citi Field when the Mets face the Padres to open up a home stand, barring any trades of Vargas.
