6:06PM: Vargas will indeed undergo surgery to remove his hamate bone, with the Mets announcing that the procedure will take place on Tuesday.
9:22AM: Mets left-hander Jason Vargas suffered a non-displaced fracture of his right hamate bone during his outing Friday, the team announced. It’s unclear how long Vargas will be on the shelf, though Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News estimates two to six weeks, depending on whether he undergoes surgery. General manager Sandy Alderson told Tim Britton of The Athletic and other reporters Sunday that surgery is an option for Vargas, who will see a hand specialist Sunday.
“He’ll either pitch through it or he’ll have it surgically repaired,” Alderson said.
Vargas’ injury is the latest in a run of poor health for Mets starters, who suffered through a disastrous 2017. Jacob deGrom was the only member of the group to get through the season unscathed, while ace Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler, Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman each sat out significant periods of time. The only member of that injury-plagued group who delivered a high-end performance was Syndergaard. The rest struggled mightily when they stepped on the mound, contributing to the Mets’ unexpected fall from grace in 2017. Mets starters finished 17th in the majors in fWAR (8.8, exactly half of which came from deGrom) and 27th in ERA (5.12).
In response to last season’s issues in their rotation, the Mets added Vargas on a two-year, $16MM guarantee over the winter with the hope he’d competently eat innings. The 35-year-old did just that in 2017 as a member of the Royals, logging a 4.16 ERA (with a much less encouraging 4.67 FIP) over 179 2/3 frames. Now, it seems the beginning of his second stint with the Mets, with whom he previously pitched in 2007, will be delayed. If that ends up being the case, the Mets will likely plug Wheeler into their rotation to join Syndergaard, deGrom, Harvey and Matz, Mike Puma of the New York Post suggests.
C’mon man!
didn’t Andrew Miller suffer the same injury near his same hand or wrist but pitch through it ?
Miller doesn’t have to hit. I wonder if that’s a solution- put him in the Pen until it’s healed.
Back in late 2016, the Mets let Robert Gsellman bat even though his non pitching shoulder wasn’t healthy enough for him to swing. And he even got a hit once. Granted, only the Mets would do something like that.
I believe so but the extent of each injury is different. Also as Vargas is older, pre-existing changes or other reasons could explain the need for surgery. Most likely explanations are the time of the season and each person’s threshold for pain. With Miller, I think the regular season was ending and even with surgery, the article says Vargas should return in six weeks.
Millers happened in spring training and he pitched the entire season with it like that
Only the Mets
Only the Mets geez
Nah, the Angels have had the same problem keeping their pitchers off the DL. You are by no means alone.
AL vs NL situation however.
Freaking love it. The Mets health woes continue. Bernie Madoff has put the kaibosh on the wilpons from the can!
Loving someone getting injured…Kudos to your parents for raising such an outstanding person. Tell them they should’ve definitely tried harder
So you like when players get hurt? Do you kick your dog, too?
How do you even jump from one of those things to the other? Love when people try to show their moral superiority on the internet by making stupid leaps in logic.
HAAA!
C’mon man
You’re an awesome person for wanting a teams players to be hurt. What’s your favorite team I bet they would love to hear one of their fans say that. Idiot
I’m sure the initial comment w as in a very sarcastic way guys. take a breather
Douche nozzle! You don’t wish an injury on any player! Ever!
Mets every year are a joke, when is it ever going to end? And the year they made the ws few yrs back they had no depth and got swept.
They lost in 5 and had the lead in every single game. Got beat by a team that was stingy and was at their best when losing.
Every team that faces the Mets bullpen plays their best when losing.
Slight correction; when facing a Collins managed pen
Too bad Eventually that they couldn’t win the WS based upon partial game leads. It’s a typical Mets’ fans’ wishful
thinking.
The Royals were not stingy, your owner is.
The Royals did whatever it took to win; good defense, pitching, baserunning and timely hitting.
They had lost the year before and learned from their experience how to win. The Mets lost in ‘15 and have been spinning into another losing tailspin, consistent with their history.
They Ran Train on those Cubbies though didn’t they!
Starting pitching and Daniel Murphy did. cubs weren’t ready yet. Mets were a great team that year taking nothing from them. Not winning that year killed them.
They lost because they had no depth? That’s a weird reason to think they lost. The royals were just flooding their roster in depth with guys like Christian Colon, Franklin Morales, and Raul Mondesi, weren’t they
You need to change your meds Goat. Ask your shrink for ones that allow you to have cohesive thoughts
At some point it stops being just bad luck and becomes a curse.
Didn’t get swept. Lost in 5. Give this New Training Staff a chance.Not their fault Vargas got hurt
Right. You can’t blame the training staff for a pitcher that got hit by a comebacker.
And so it begins
I don’t see how he pitches through this. Get the surgery and we’ll see you in mid-June.
We have the SP depth at the moment at least.
this is just utterly frigging ridiculous now!
Welcome the the Mets, Vargas
Took the exact words right out of my mouth.
He signed with the Mets so that he had company when he wanted time off.
The DL Report, sponsored by the NY Mets.
The good old excuse that the Mets lose because of injuries. No it is because they suck!
That is a historical comment based upon decades of poor performance.
The Mets will forever be cursed with injuries
Here we go again, another Mets pitcher on disabled list