According to Matt Ehalt of Yahoo Sports, the New York Mets are thinking of shaking up their rotation a bit in the near future.
Steven Matz and Jason Vargas, currently the team’s fourth and fifth starters, respectively, are the Mets’ only two starting southpaws. Right-handers Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Zack Wheeler currently occupy the rotation’s top-three spots.
Matz, 27, made his first start of the season on Monday night in Miami, going 5.1 innings and allowing one earned run on six hits with three strikeouts and no walks. After allowing a two-run home run to Starlin Castro in the first, the left-handed Long Island native settled down considerably, retiring the next ten batters he faced.
Vargas, 36, makes his season debut on Tuesday versus the Marlins. After his solid second half of 2018 (3.81 ERA, 1.123 WHIP, 3.25 K/BB over 11 starts; 54.1 innings), and respectable Spring Training (4.50 ERA, 1.389 WHIP, 2.50 K/BB over 18 innings), the Mets are surely anticipating a better start to the year than he had last season.
By theoretically sticking Matz in the three-hole and moving Wheeler to the fourth spot, the Mets’ rotational dexterity would certainly be a bit more balanced and could end up working out for the group as a whole.
