Ildemaro Vargas

Ildemaro Vargas

33-Year-Old Third Baseman3B
 Free Agent  
Free Agent
2024 Fantasy Outlook
The 286 plate appearances Vargas accrued in 2023 were a career high, as the utility player saw action at five different positions for the Nationals. The 32-year-old's seven percent strikeout rate was the second-lowest in baseball among players with at least 250 plate appearances, ranking behind only batting champ Luis Arraez. Unfortunately, that's about the only interesting thing in Vargas' offensive profile, as he offers next to nothing in terms of power or speed. Vargas is a capable, versatile defender and a switch-hitter, which endears him to managers like Dave Martinez. His only real relevance in fantasy, however, is how much playing time he might take away from other, more interesting guys like Luis Garcia and Nick Senzel. Read Past Outlooks
$Signed a one-year, $1.1 million contract with the Nationals in September of 2023. Elected free agency in November of 2024.
Becomes free agent
3BFree Agent  
November 4, 2024
Vargas elected free agency Monday, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Vargas played quite a bit for the Nationals the last couple years, but he slashed just .246/.295/.316 in 2024 and the club didn't want to pay him a raise in arbitration. The utility player will hit the free-agent market rather than accepting an outright assignment.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2024 MLB Game Log
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2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
2
2
9
13
3
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
2
10
10
14
4
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+17%
OPS vs LHP
2024
 
 
+10%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+38%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+6%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .716 317 25 5 38 5 .269 .301 .415
Since 2022vs Right .611 494 47 4 46 8 .242 .298 .312
2024vs Left .644 128 9 0 9 3 .261 .299 .345
2024vs Right .587 175 12 1 21 6 .235 .292 .294
2023vs Left .800 108 10 3 19 0 .291 .324 .476
2023vs Right .581 178 22 1 12 1 .226 .291 .289
2022vs Left .715 81 6 2 10 2 .253 .272 .443
2022vs Right .676 141 13 2 13 1 .269 .314 .362
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+4%
OPS on Road
2024
 
 
+2%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+2%
OPS on Road
2022
 
 
+10%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .641 374 36 5 37 6 .248 .300 .341
Since 2022Away .664 437 36 4 47 7 .258 .299 .365
2024Home .617 153 11 0 13 3 .245 .300 .317
2024Away .606 150 10 1 17 6 .248 .291 .316
2023Home .660 115 16 3 14 1 .248 .298 .362
2023Away .671 171 16 1 17 0 .255 .308 .363
2022Home .655 106 9 2 10 2 .253 .302 .354
2022Away .723 116 10 2 13 1 .273 .296 .427
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Stat Review
How does Ildemaro Vargas compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.61
 
BB Rate
6.3%
 
K Rate
10.2%
 
BABIP
.269
 
ISO
.070
 
AVG
.246
 
OBP
.295
 
SLG
.316
 
OPS
.611
 
wOBA
.273
 
Exit Velocity
87.0 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
24.3%
 
Barrels/PA
1.0%
 
Expected BA
.252
 
Expected SLG
.322
 
Sprint Speed
23.6 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
52.3%
 
Line Drive %
19.5%
 
Fly Ball %
28.2%
 
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Ildemaro Vargas See More
Weekly Hitter Rankings: The Playoff Push
51 days ago
Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers are one of 14 teams with a seven-game schedule from September 16-22. Todd Zola highlights the matchups and unveils his weekly hitter rankings.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Scoring is Way Down
58 days ago
The Cleveland Guardians are one of six teams with seven games the week of September 9 to September 15. See how they and the rest of the MLB rank in Todd Zola's weekly hitter rankings.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Raise the Jolly Roger
65 days ago
Bryan Reynolds and the Pirates top Todd Zola’s hitter rankings for the week of September 2 to September 8.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Playing for Both Sides
72 days ago
Bobby Witt and the Royals play eight games the week of August 26 to September 1, making them a top team in Todd Zola's weekly hitter rankings.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Blue Jays Nesting in Rogers Neighborhood
79 days ago
The Toronto Blue Jays and the red-hot Vladimir Guerrero Jr. top Todd Zola's weekly hitter rankings thanks to seven home games during the week of August 19-25.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2021
2020
2019
Vargas is a journeyman infielder, one who has bounced around between five organizations within the past three seasons. He can play all around the infield and is not a total zero with the bat like a lot of utility infielders. Thanks in part to a vastly improved strikeout rate, Vargas was able to carve out his most playing time ever. It's not crazy to think he could surpass the 222 plate appearances he logged in 2022 this upcoming season, with the stripped-down Nationals lacking established MLB talent. While he's not exciting, Vargas can be useful for stretches in deep leagues when he's getting regular run.
Vargas looked likely to make the Diamondbacks' Opening Day roster and indeed he did, but a 3-for-20 start got him designated for assignment Aug. 6. Minnesota brought Vargas in and played him for a bit while Luis Arraez was injured, but the Twins eventually followed suit and DFA'd Vargas on Sept. 2. Claimed by the Cubs, Vargas only logged nine PA for Chicago down the stretch around a stint on the IL with a right hamstring strain. It's nice that Vargas can move around the infield, but he has not actually graded out all that well defensively and he's shown little offensively. At press time, Vargas remains on the Cubs' 40-man roster, but it would not be a surprise if he ended up bouncing around the league again in 2021.
Vargas began in the Cardinals organization before being sent to the Atlantic League, where Arizona found him a few years back. The switch hitter has been a premier contact hitter in the minors the past few years with an incredibly low strikeout rate, but he also shows little power so pitchers are often filling the zone against him. He has the skills to play multiple spots in the infield but is best suited to play second base. The bat-to-ball skills and the defensive chops should all but guarantee him a spot on the major-league roster in 2020, but there is little reason to think there is any upside here. What upside there may be would come from batted-ball fortunes from the BABIP gods. Arizona has been particularly prudent about when it chooses to steal bases and allowed Vargas just one successful attempt last year.
Vargas spent close to a decade in the minor leagues before making his debut for the Diamondbacks in 2017. Now 27, Vargas is getting a look in a utility role with Arizona. He's mostly served off the bench, starting just two of the Diamondbacks' first 16 games of 2019, but he's done reasonably well in his limited opportunities so far. Vargas has always been a slap-hitting infielder with middling power, failing to exceed even 10 homers during his time on the farm. He did once steal 21 bases in 22 attempts during a season (2016), but Vargas was just 10-for-14 on the basepaths at Triple-A Reno last year. This is a player who would project for maybe 10 homers and 10 steals if he were given a full season's worth of at-bats at the major-league level. It's not the kind of skill set worth speculating on in mixed leagues, as the upside is limited even if playing time were to open up.
More Fantasy News
Filling in for resting Garcia
3BWashington Nationals  
September 11, 2024
Vargas will start at third base and bat eighth in Wednesday's game against Atlanta.
ANALYSIS
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Sitting in second straight
3BWashington Nationals  
August 11, 2024
Vargas is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Angels.
ANALYSIS
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Absent from lineup
3BWashington Nationals  
August 10, 2024
Vargas is not in the starting lineup for Saturday's game against the Angels, Spencer Nusbaum of The Washington Post reports.
ANALYSIS
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Gaining playing time in infield
3BWashington Nationals  
August 7, 2024
Vargas will start at second base and bat fifth in Wednesday's game against the Giants.
ANALYSIS
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Swats first homer of season
3BWashington Nationals  
July 10, 2024
Vargas went 1-for-2 with a two-run home run in Tuesday's 7-5 loss to the Mets.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Value as trade piece
3BWashington Nationals  
June 16, 2023
Jon Morosi of MLB Network said Friday he believes Vargas will "have a lot of value" ahead of the August 1 trade deadline.
ANALYSIS
The utility man went down early in the season with a shoulder injury and has played just 16 games since he returned from the IL on May 3, but he's hit well during that stretch with an .896 OPS and 10 RBI. Vargas isn't likely to be a lineup regular in 2023, but his versatility could provide some solid value for contending teams.
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