Ildemaro Vargas

Ildemaro Jose Vargas

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 170 lb.

• Debut June 29, 2017

• Born July 16, 1991 in Caripito, Monagas, Venezuela

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Biographical Information

Infielder Ildemaro Vargas was first called up to the major leagues by the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 29, 2017, to replace shortstop Nick Ahmed had been placed on the disabled list with a broken hand. In his debut that day, he came in as a defensive substitute at second base in the 8th inning of a 10-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals and struck out swinging against Tyler Lyons in his first career at-bat.

That began an unusual career during which he was never a starter and never even considered a potential starter, but managed to log time in the majors every season for a decade. He changed teams a lot, appearing for four other teams besides the Diamondbacks, including three full seasons with the Washington Nationals from 2022 to 2024, but he would always seem to find a way to return to return to Arizona, with three separate stints with the Snakes: from his debut in 2017 to 2020; for a brief time in 2021 after appearing for three other teams in the interim; and again starting in 2025. His season high for games was 95 in 2024, when he also set a personal best with 272 at-bats. He never hit much during that period, with his OPS+ almost always being below 100, and with only limited power. His big contribution was the ability to play a number of positions adequately, which made him an asset to fill up a bench role at a time when teams were limited in how many extra position players they could carry due to the bloating of bullpens. He was one of those anonymous players who would end up pitching an inning or two at the end of blow-out games to save the real pitchers for games that mattered, performing the role five times while with the Nationals. It's fair to say that at the time the 2025 season ended, only hard-core fans could have identified him and even these would have been puzzled to learn that he had played in nine seasons by then.

The unknown soldier then surprisingly stepped into the spotlight with the D-Backs in 2026. The season started innocently enough as he had made only 9 at-bats through his team's first ten games, although he had gotten at least a hit in all three games in which he had appeared. But after coming in as a pinch-runner for 1B Carlos Santana and then going 1 for 2 in a win in extra innings over the Atlanta Braves on April 5th, his manager, Torey Lovullo, figured there was nothing to lose in playing the hot hand, and Ildemaro began starting every day, either at second base or first base, because there was no stopping him. A two-hit game on April 29th extended his hitting streak from the start of the season to 22 games (and 25 counting the final three games of 2025), as he was batting .372, a figure that led the National League, and it was not all singles either: with 6 doubles, 2 triples and 6 homers, his slugging percentage was .698 and his OPS 1.098, both also being league-leading figures. He had already matched his career high for most homers in a season. The streak was now reaching historic territory as the fourth longest of all time to open a season, tied with Joe Torre in 1971 and trailing only Edgar Renteria (23 in 2006), Gee Walker (27 in 1937]) and Ron LeFlore (30 in 1976). It was also the third-longest single-season streak in Arizona history. It was as if Joe Hardy had been plucked in the middle of the Diamondbacks' line-up! He tied Renteria with 23 straight games with a hit from the start of the season when he ended April with a 2-for-4 performance on April 30th, raising his average to .378. He started May just like April ended, by going 4-for-4 in a game against the Chicago Cubs on May 1st, extending the streak to 24 games and raising his average to .404. At 27 games counting 2025, it was now the longest hitting streak ever by a Venezuelan player, besting the 26 by Wilson Ramos in 2019; however, it ended the next day when he went o for 4 in a 2-0 loss to the Cubs. He capped his unbelievable month of April by being named the National League's Player of the Month, an award he had never even sniffed in his first nine seasons in the majors.

Further Reading

• Steve Gilbert: "Vargas rising to historic heights as season-opening hit streak reaches 22 games", mlb.com, April 29, 2026. [1]
• Steve Gilbert: "Vargas' hit streak snapped at 27 games in D-backs' shutout loss", mlb.com, May 2, 2026. [2]

Related Sites

• Ildemaro Vargas on mlb.com