A brilliant outing from Jason Vargas led the Mets to a 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres last night in Queens. Earning his fifth win of the season, the lefty threw six scoreless innings allowing just one hit and four walks while striking out eight.
Vargas struck out five through his first three innings. He was flirting with a no-hitter until the Padres’ Eric Hosmer sent a grounder through the right side for a single in the top of the fifth. The lefty got into some trouble during the frame, after walking Franmil Reyes and the base-hit from Hosmer with no outs, but he was able to work out of it and retired his next three batters without allowing a run to score.
Vargas was extremely effective on the mound, making generous use of his off-speed stuff. He threw a total of 50 pitches that were classified as changeups during his outing- which is the most he’s had in a start over the last five seasons. He struck out National League Rookie of the Year candidate, Fernando Tatis Jr., three times- at speeds of 76.8 mph, 77.5 mpg, and 77.1 mph, per David Adler of MLB.com– all with his changeup.
The starter feels that working with less velocity in his arsenal is a major advantage in today’s game.
“I appreciate that I get it up in the mid-90s,” he said. “Throwing really hard isn’t as unique as it used to be… I think I’m the only one that throws that slow,” per Deesha Thosar of New York Daily News.
The southpaw lowered his season ERA to 3.96, and improved his home ERA to 1.83 across seven starts at Citi Field this season. He owns a WHIP of 1.252, adding 76 strikeouts in 88 2/3 innings pitched. His 1.3 WAR is tied with Todd Frazier for the team’s sixth most valuable player in 2019.
Vargas has one start remaining until the trade deadline and it is very likely that the Mets will trade him before July 31, since the team is expected to decline the 2020 option on his contract thereby essentially making him a pending free agent. A contender could potentially use a veteran lefty like Vargas to help bolster their rotation.
