Ildemaro Vargas

Ildemaro Vargas

32-Year-Old Third Baseman3B
Washington Nationals
2023 Fantasy Outlook
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. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
#601
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $975,000 contract with the Nationals in November of 2022.
Resting Thursday
3BWashington Nationals
September 21, 2023
Vargas isn't in the Nationals' lineup Thursday against Atlanta, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Although the switch-hitting Vargas holds a .773 OPS against left-handed pitchers this season, he'll get a day off against Max Fried on Thursday. Carter Kieboom will start at third base instead while batting fifth.
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Batting Stats
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2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
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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2019 MLB Game Log
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2018 MLB Game Log
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2017 MLB Game Log
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Minor League 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
3
6
15
10
2
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
4
9
9
3
1
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+9%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+27%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+6%
OPS vs LHP
2021
 
 
+62%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021vs Left .676 217 17 5 32 2 .240 .272 .404
Since 2021vs Right .621 358 40 3 29 3 .242 .299 .322
2023vs Left .765 101 10 3 19 0 .271 .307 .458
2023vs Right .602 169 21 1 12 1 .237 .299 .303
2022vs Left .715 81 6 2 10 2 .253 .272 .443
2022vs Right .676 141 13 2 13 1 .269 .314 .362
2021vs Left .323 35 1 0 3 0 .121 .171 .152
2021vs Right .523 48 6 0 4 1 .182 .250 .273
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+2%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+3%
OPS on Road
2022
 
 
+10%
OPS on Road
2021
 
 
+128%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021Home .648 258 30 5 29 4 .248 .300 .349
Since 2021Away .637 317 27 3 32 1 .236 .279 .358
2023Home .654 111 16 3 14 1 .245 .291 .363
2023Away .673 159 15 1 17 0 .253 .310 .363
2022Home .655 106 9 2 10 2 .253 .302 .354
2022Away .723 116 10 2 13 1 .273 .296 .427
2021Home .614 41 5 0 5 1 .243 .317 .297
2021Away .269 42 2 0 2 0 .075 .119 .150
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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
1.13
 
BB Rate
6.8%
 
K Rate
6.0%
 
BABIP
.254
 
ISO
.107
 
AVG
.251
 
OBP
.304
 
SLG
.358
 
OPS
.662
 
wOBA
.295
 
Exit Velocity
86.8 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
24.9%
 
Barrels/PA
2.2%
 
Expected BA
.265
 
Expected SLG
.364
 
Sprint Speed
23.9 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
57.0%
 
Line Drive %
17.0%
 
Fly Ball %
26.0%
 
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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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2021
2020
2019
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
On bench Monday
3BWashington Nationals
September 18, 2023
Vargas is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the White Sox, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Sitting third straight
3BWashington Nationals
September 2, 2023
Vargas isn't in the Nationals' lineup Saturday against the Marlins, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Sits again Friday
3BWashington Nationals
September 1, 2023
Vargas isn't in the Nationals' lineup Friday against the Marlins, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Takes seat Thursday
3BWashington Nationals
August 31, 2023
Vargas isn't in the Nationals' lineup Thursday against Miami, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Belts fourth homer
3BWashington Nationals
August 12, 2023
Vargas went 2-for-4 with a home run, four RBI and two runs in Friday's win over the Athletics.
ANALYSIS
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