Jason Vargas activated from disabled list, Corey Oswalt optioned to Triple-A

The Mets have optioned Corey Oswalt to Triple-A Las Vegas to make room on the roster for Jason Vargas, who will start tomorrow’s game. He has been sidelined for over a month with a calf strain he sustained during drills.

In Vargas’s and Noah Syndergaard’s absence, the Mets have had to cobble together a back end of the rotation. Corey Oswalt has pitched to a rather pedestrian 5.56 ERA as a starter this season, but had been showing improvement of late. He has a 3.38 ERA and a 0.69 WHIP in his last three starts. There had been some chatter that Oswalt would remain in the rotation upon Vargas’ return, but the Mets made the decision to stick with their offseason acquisition.

“Oswalt made it a little difficult, there’s no doubt about that,” manager Mickey Callaway said about the decision. “When you look at our team and I look at our team and we evaluate who we are, we are a better team when we have Vargas pitching the way Vargas is capable of, and we have a solid sixth starter down in Triple-A, ready to come up and help us at any point.”

Vargas carries a ghastly 8.60 ERA and 6.61 FIP into tomorrow’s start, hoping he can bounce back in the second half.