This is how the Mets drew it up.
New York envisioned that Jason Vargas would give them similar production to a former player who donned the same No. 40, Bartolo Colon, when they signed him this offseason.
On Monday, they finally saw what they thought they’d be getting.
Vargas started against the Miami Marlins and dazzled over five innings, yielding just two hits and fanning seven. He hit his spots with pinpoint accuracy and his changeup was nasty. In the process, he also lowered his ERA from 13.86 to 9.87.
“We felt we are going to know what we get with him,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “He’s going to go out there and throw strikes. He’s going to keep you in the game, even if it’s just for five innings, but that’s the reason we signed him, so we really need him to do that.”
Prior to Monday, the 35-year-old hadn’t started May 8 in Cincinnati. That day, he surrendered four runs on six hits in just four innings.
“When you get skipped or get pushed back it just means you are not doing the job,” Vargas said. “So you want to get back out there and not prolong the thought you are already having.”
Vargas set down the first nine in a row to face him. He had guys off balance with his changeup and used it to his advantage. The first hit he allowed came to lead off the fourth, but he responded by setting down the next three Fish.
In the fifth, he began to run out of gas, walking Cameron Maybin and allowing a hit to Miguel Rojas, but after a mound visit from Dave Eiland, he punched out the next two Marlins to end the frame and his day on a high note.
“The more weak contact you get or mis-hit balls or swings and misses that you get are going to give you more confidence and you are going to feel about throwing those pitches,” Vargas said. “It was nice to get some mis-hits early and it gave me a good idea it was moving in the right direction and doing some things it hadn’t done before.”
Though it was just against the lowly Marlins, this was an outing Vargas desperately needed. He took some positives out, and if he can continue to locate and throw his changeup with the accuracy he had Tuesday, he will be in good shape.
“That was much more Vargas-like than what we have been watching,” Callaway said.
