Jason Vargas

Infobox MLB player
name=Jason Vargas


position=Pitcher
team=New York Mets
number=39
bats=Left
throws=Left
birthdate=birth date and age|1983|2|2
birthplace=city-state|Apple Valley|California
debutdate=July 14
debutyear=2005
debutteam=Florida Marlins
statyear=September 10, 2008
stat1label=Win-Loss
stat1value=6-8
stat2label=Earned run average
stat2value=5.81
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=88
teams=
*Florida Marlins (by|2005-by|2006)
*New York Mets (by|2007-present)

Jason Matthew Vargas (born February 2, 1983 in Apple Valley, California) is a left-handed starting pitcher who plays for the New York Mets organization. He has played parts of two seasons in the major leagues with the Florida Marlins and part of one season in the major leagues with the Mets.

Childhood and high school

Vargas spent a lot of time around the Victor Valley baseball team for which his father was the coach. As a high school player, Vargas' mental and emotional make-up impressed those around him. He was all-San Bernardino County as a junior, but not as a senior, when his Apple Valley team failed to make the CIF playoffs.

Vargas was not switched from right-handed to left-handed. He was ambidextrous for a short while in his early years and at some time eventually made the natural progression into being left-handed.

College years

Vargas was drafted by Major League Baseball's Minnesota Twins with the 1,273rd pick in the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft. Jason declined and decided to go to Louisiana State University. As a freshmen at LSU, Vargas went 1-1 with a 3.43 ERA in 13 games. However, Vargas decided to transfer out of LSU after the 2001 season to Cypress College for the by|2003 season, picking a junior college so he would still be eligible for the draft. 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 arm slot dropped; and his velocity fell into the mid-80s. That, combined with Vargas' signing bonus demands, depressed his draft stock, so he went undrafted.

Vargas headed to Long Beach State for his senior year. He liked the school's history of producing major league talent and liked the school's hard-nosed mentality even more, especially after getting a recommendation from former Dirtbag J.J. Newkirk, who played for Vargas' father, Joe, at Victor Valley. Vargas arrived at LBSU with a new work ethic determined to improve upon his year at Cypress College. Vargas also proved a fast learner. At Long Beach, he learned to keep his top half aligned with his lower half over the rubber and not drift toward the plate as he twisted through his delivery. The tweak allowed Vargas to repeat his mechanics and keep his arm higher, which in turn increased the velocity on his fastball and improved the break on his curveball. The new work ethic paid off, and in by|2004 Vargas went 7-6 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 baseball

The Marlins drafted Vargas out of Long Beach State with their second-round pick in the 2004 MLB Draft and 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 with their Low A affiliate, the Jamestown Jammers, with whom he went 3-1 with an ERA of 1.96. He finished 2004 with three starts at the end of the 2004 campaign with one of the Marlins' Single-A affiliates, the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the South Atlantic League. He had a record of 2-1, an ERA of 2.37, and struck out 17 batters in 19 innings pitched.

Vargas was then promising enough that Baseball America listed him 8th among the Marlins' top 10 prospects for by|2005; those above him were Jeremy Hermida, Scott Olsen, Yorman Bazardo, Jason Stokes, Josh Willingham, Eric Reed, and Taylor Tankersley. Baseball America predicted that Vargas would start the season in Greensboro and finish it in High A with the Jupiter Hammerheads; Vargas would very easily surpass that expectation during the 2005 season.

Vargas did start the 2005 season with Greensboro, as was expected, but he advanced quickly through the Marlins' minor-league system. He made five starts with Greensboro, going 4-1 with an earned run average of just 0.80. He was then promoted to Jupiter, where he went 2-3 with a 3.42 ERA in nine starts; while there, he struck out 60 batters in 55 1/3 innings. With his third club of the year, the Double-A Carolina Mudcats, he made three starts, going 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 19 innings pitched.

The Marlins noticed Vargas's success in the minor leagues and, when faced with injuries to their own pitching staff, decided to make him the fourth Mudcats pitcher to play in the major leagues in 2005 (the others were Logan Kensing, Olsen, and Bazardo). He made his major-league debut on July 14, 2005, the same day on which the Marlins designated veteran starter Al Leiter for assignment. His first start in the majors would come on July 18 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Unlike Kensing, Olsen, and Bazardo, Vargas enjoyed nearly immediate success upon his arrival in the major leagues, and after Ismael Valdéz returned from a leg injury, the Marlins moved Brian Moehler to the bullpen and left Vargas in their rotation. On August 21, Vargas pitched his first complete game in the majors, giving up one run on six hits and striking out seven. He finished the season with a record of 5-5 and a 4.03 ERA. 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 mlby|2006 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 2/3 innings. For the month of May, the Marlins moved him to the bullpen, where he gave up one run in 5 1/3 innings over his first three appearances. In his fourth appearance out of the bullpen, he allowed eight runs (seven earned) over 3 1/3 innings; the Marlins optioned him to Single-A Albuquerque 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. [http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060706&content_id=1542508&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla] 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 1/3 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 1/3 innings. [http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Jason%20Vargas&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=450306] 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 for the Marlins and 3-6 with a 7.43 ERA for the Isotopes in 2006.

On November 20, 2006, the Marlins traded Vargas to the New York Mets along with fellow starting pitcher Adam Bostick in exchange for relief pitchers Matt Lindstrom and Henry Owens. Vargas began the by|2007 season with the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs, compiling a 2-3 record with a 5.30 ERA which Mets manager Willie Randolph described as "so-so". [http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AjgyVUZpcGyKHtwjqTYcGuyFCLcF?slug=ap-metsmoves&prov=ap&type=lgns] 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 in return 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. [http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=270517121]

Vargas, who had a bone spur removed from his elbow in October, is expected to have surgery to repair a tear in his left hip. He is expected to miss three months.

Pitches

Vargas throws three pitches: a fastball, changeup, and slider.

External links

* [http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/features/04top10s/marlins.html Baseball America]