Jason Vargas

Jason Matthew Vargas (born February 2, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Florida Marlins, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies. The Marlins drafted Vargas in the second round of the 2004 MLB draft. He made his major league debut in 2005. In 2017, he was an All-Star and tied for the American League lead in wins.

Amateur career

Vargas was born in Apple Valley, California. He attended Victor Valley High School in Victorville, California, where he played for the school's baseball team under his father, who was head coach. His father retired in 1998, and Vargas transferred to Apple Valley High School in Apple Valley. He graduated in 2001.

The Minnesota Twins drafted him with the 1,273rd pick in the 2001 Major League Baseball draft. He declined to sign and instead enrolled at Louisiana State University (LSU). In his one-season playing college baseball for the LSU Tigers, Vargas had a 1–1 win–loss record with a 3.43 earned run average in 13 games. He also saw occasional playing time as a first baseman and designated hitter. In his first college at bat, he launched a pinch hit grand slam in a victory over Mercer.

Vargas transferred from LSU after the 2002 season to Cypress College for the season, picking a junior college so he would still be eligible for the draft. He was 11–3 with a 3.10 ERA and 101 strikeouts in innings as he batted .374. He was the Southern California junior college player of the year for his work on the mound and at the plate. However, as the season wore on, his velocity decreased and he was not drafted in 2003. His lower arm slot and signing bonus demands also depressed his draft stock.

Vargas transferred to California State University, Long Beach to play for the Long Beach State Dirtbags for his junior year. At Long Beach, he increased the velocity on his fastball to 95 miles per hour and improved the break on his curveball. In Vargas went 7–4 with a 4.14 ERA in 18 games on the mound, while hitting .354 with 14 doubles and five home runs as the team's designated hitter.

Professional career

Florida Marlins The Florida Marlins drafted Vargas out of Long Beach State with their second-round pick in the 2004 MLB draft, and he was signed by scout Robby Cosaro; he was a collegiate teammate of Jered Weaver, who was the Anaheim Angels' first-round pick in 2004. Vargas was the 68th player taken overall in the draft. He signed with the Marlins in time to make eight starts in 2004 with their Low A affiliate, the Jamestown Jammers, with whom he went 3–1 with an ERA of 1.96 in eight starts, and was named the #3 prospect in the New York–Penn League by Baseball America. He was the Marlins Organizational Pitcher of the Month for August. Vargas received one third-place vote from the Baseball Writers' Association of America in the 2005 MLB Rookie of the Year voting.

Vargas started the season in the Marlins' starting rotation, but he struggled there; in five starts, he went 1–1 with a 5.40 ERA, 20 walks, and 14 strikeouts in 23 innings. For the month of May, the Marlins moved him to the bullpen, where he gave up one run in 5 innings over his first three appearances. In his fourth appearance out of the bullpen, he allowed eight runs (seven earned) over 3 innings; the Marlins optioned him to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes on May 14. Vargas started improving with Albuquerque, going 2–2 with a 4.54 ERA in seven starts and earning another promotion to the major leagues on July 6.

However, over his next three games with the Marlins, all in relief, Vargas allowed 13 runs (12 earned), four home runs, and five walks in 10 innings; he struck out five batters. The Marlins sent him back to Albuquerque on July 29, where he stayed for the rest of Albuquerque's season. Vargas continued to struggle in his second stint with Albuquerque, allowing 38 earned runs on 56 hits in 31 innings.

The Marlins did not call him up again in 2006 after the major-league rosters expanded in September. Overall, Vargas went 1–2 with a 7.33 ERA in 12 games (five of which were starts) for the Marlins, Vargas began the season with the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs, compiling a 2–3 record with a 5.30 ERA. At the time, Mets manager Willie Randolph said Vargas was pitching "so-so" in the minors but liked his stuff.

He was called up to the Mets on May 13 after an injured Moisés Alou was sent to the disabled list, and took over the rotation spot previously held by Mike Pelfrey, who was optioned to New Orleans after posting an 0–5 record in 6 outings. His first outing as a Met was on May 17, a no decision in a 6–5 victory over the Chicago Cubs. His next outing as a Met was on July 3 against the Colorado Rockies. Vargas pitched innings, giving up nine earned runs. He pitched only innings for the Mets in 2007.

Vargas was optioned down to the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers on July 7, , to make roster room for Chris Shelton. On September 1, Vargas was called up to the Majors. He had been 4–3 with a 3.14 ERA in nine starts with Tacoma. In 2009 with Seattle, he was 3–6 with a 4.91 ERA in 23 games, 14 of which were starts. He kept left-handed batters to a .200 average, which was ninth-lowest in the American League (AL). For the season, he was 14–11 with a 3.85 ERA, his 33 starts were fourth in the league, and his innings pitched were sixth in the American League, while his 35 home runs given up were second in the league. In May 2013 he was again AL Pitcher of the Month. He opened the 2014 season as the number three starter for the Royals and posted a career-best 3.71 ERA over 187 innings, as he was 11–10 in 30 starts. For 2015, he was 5–2 with a 3.98 ERA in nine starts.

On September 17, 2016, he made his first start following his recovery from surgery, against the Chicago White Sox. In 2016 he pitched only 12 innings, all of which were scoreless. He also led all the majors in changeup percentage (32.7%). On defense, his 23 assists as a pitcher were fifth in the league, his 1.60 range factor per nine innings was fourth in the league, and he had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. On March 16, Vargas suffered a non-displaced fracture of the hamate bone in his right hand. On August 29, he struck out his 1,000th batter becoming one of 16 active left-handers to reach that milestone. The next day, the Mets fined Vargas $10,000 for his actions. At the time that he was traded in 2019, he was 6–5 with a 4.01 ERA for the Mets, in 19 games, 18 of which were starts. In 2019 with the Phillies, Vargas was 1–4 with a 5.37 ERA, and in 11 starts he pitched innings.

Personal life Vargas married his high school sweetheart. They have three children.

Vargas's father, after serving as his high school baseball coach, became the athletic director at the University of Redlands. Vargas' second cousin, Randy Velarde, played in MLB for 10 seasons. Another cousin, Ronnie Corona, played in the minor leagues after also pitching at Victor Valley High School and Cypress College.

Vargas's number was retired by the Apple Valley High School baseball team in 2014.