Surgery may keep Mets' Jason Vargas off opening-day roster

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March 19, 2018 3:28 AM

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The New York Mets may be without starter Jason Vargas to begin the season.

Vargas, whom the Mets signed to a two-year, $16-million contract last month, will undergo surgery Tuesday in New York to remove a fractured hamate bone in his right hand, the team said in a statement Sunday.

Vargas, who throws with his left hand, was hit with a line drive on the base of his right hand when pitching in a minor league spring training game Friday. Doctors recommended the removal of the broken bone instead of pitching with it.

The Mets said Vargas was expected to resume throwing five days after surgery. Vargas may not miss much time, but he will almost certainly begin the season on the disabled list.

The Mets do not need a fifth starter until April 4, the sixth game of the season, which could potentially buy them enough time to have Vargas ready to go.

Vargas, 35, was signed to bring stability to the Mets’ oft-injured starting rotation. But his early absence probably gives Zack Wheeler, who was fighting for a spot on the team, a chance to crack the season-opening roster.

Several years of injuries have thwarted the Mets’ dream of having their five young starters — Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Wheeler — in the same rotation. Now it may happen.

On Sunday, manager Mickey Callaway said Wheeler would take Vargas’ next turn in the spring training rotation Thursday.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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