Ildemaro Vargas

BIOGRAPHY

Ildemaro Jose Vargas was born on July 16, 1991, in Caripito, Venezuela. He is an infielder in the MLB.

Vargas signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as an international free agent in June 2008. He played in the Cardinals organization until he was released in March 2015. After his release from the Cardinals, he signed with Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. A month later he signed a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks added Vargas to their 40-man roster after the 2016 season.

In the year 2012, Vargas combined to hit .314 with 18 doubles, 4 home runs and 32 RBI in 69 games with Rookie Johnson City, Class Short-Season A Batavia and Palm Beach. He played in 19 games with Caribes in the VWL. While in 2013, he combined to hit .314 with 18 doubles, 4 home runs and 32 RBI in 69 games with Rookie Johnson City, Class Short-Season A Batavia and Palm Beach. He played in 19 games with Caribes in the VWL. By the 2014 season, he had batted .241 with 17 doubles and 40 RBI in 112 games with Single-A Adv. Palm Beach and also played in 8 games with Double-A Springfield.

In 2015, Vargas had hit .321 with 18 doubles, 5 home runs and 39 RBI in 86 games with Single-A Kane County. He played in 64 games at shortstop and 21 at second base. He also ranked 1st among the Midwest League leaders in average, 2nd on-base pct. ( .385) and 3rd OPS (.823). He was released by St. Louis on March 28. After being released, he played 30 games with Bridgeport in the independent Atlantic League before signing with Arizona as a free agent on May 26. Vargas also played with Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League and batted .335 in 51 games. In the 2016 season, he had combined to bat .305 with 28 doubles, 6 home runs and 37 RBI in 133 games with Single-A Adv. Visalia, Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Reno and totaled 44 walks and 39 strikeouts. He played in 84 games at shortstop and 49 at second base and was 13-of-14 in stolen base attempts. Vargas was named to the Southern League midseason All-Star Team.

In 2017, Vargas had batted .308 in 12 games over 2 stints in his first Major League season with the D-backs. He hit .312 with 35 doubles, 4 triples, 10 homers and 65 RBI in 113 games for Reno, and was named a Pacific Coast League midseason All-Star. Vargas has ranked 1st among PCL leaders in doubles, 1st in strikeout pct.(7.5), 4th in hits and 5th in runs (87). Vargas was rated by Baseball America as the Best Defensive Second Baseman in the PCL. By the 2018 season, Vargas batted .211 with 1 home run and 4 RBI in 14 games in his second Major League season with the D-backs. He hit his first Major League home run on Sept. 29 vs. Padres. He was named a Pacific Coast League mid- and postseason All-Star and hit .311 with 31 doubles, 10 triples, 7 homers and 54 RBI in with Triple-A Reno. He also ranked 3rd among PCL leaders in triples (10), 4th in total bases ( 239) and 8th in runs scored (78). Vargas set a franchise record with 35-game hitting streak, the fifth-longest, single-season hitting streak in PCL history and the longest since Joey Cora/Las Vegas in 1989 with 37.

On May 27, 2022, Vargas signed a minor league deal with the Washington Nationals. He had his contract selected on August 2.