Martin Vargas

From BR Bullpen

Martin Vargas

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

BR minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Pitcher Martin Vargas has played at least eight years in the minors, three in the Japan, one in South Korea and one in Taiwan.

Vargas debuted in 1996 as a position player for the DSL Co-op team and hit .223 with 12 RBI. He moved to the mound in 1997 and went 3-5 with a 2.45 ERA for the DSL Indians. In 1998, Martin was 1-4 with a 10.01 ERA in 7 starts for the Columbus RedStixx and 3-7, 4.76 for the Burlington Indians. The Baseball Almanac that year lists him as Martin Bautista [1]. He tied for the Appalachian League lead in losses with four other hurlers.

In 1999, Vargas was 6-3, 4.95 for Columbus and 6-1, 2.76 with two saves in 20 games for the Kinston Eagles. Moving up to AA (and now listed as Vargas), he struggled with the 2000 Akron Aeros, going 10-8 with 7 saves and a 5.42 ERA in 53 games as a busy man out of the bullpen.

Vargas pitched 54 games in 2001 to lead members of the Cleveland Indians farm system. He appeared 32 times for Akron (1-5, 9 Sv, 5.63, .325 average) and 22 for the Buffalo Bisons (0-3, 4 Sv, 2.93). He began 2002 with Buffalo and was effective (3-2, 8 Sv, 2.31 in 22 games) as the primary closer and drew attention overseas. The Chunichi Dragons signed the right-hander.

With Chunichi in 2002, Vargas was 2-4 with a 3.33 ERA in 8 starts. While he was not near staff aces Kenshin Kawakami and Kenta Asakura, he did outperform quality veterans Shigeki Noguchi and Masahiro Yamamoto.

In 2003, Martin had a 0-2, 6.65 record in six games for the Dragons. The next year, he was 2-3 with a 4.06 ERA in six outings to conclude his career in Japan.

In 2005, Vargas was 10-8 with a 5.06 ERA for the pennant-winning Samsung Lions. While he was not one of their aces in the regular season, he threw five shutout innings in game three of the Korean Series in a 6-0 victory as part of a 4-game sweep.

Martin's stops in 2006 included the Potros de Tijuana (0-1, 9.00 in 4 games) and the La New Bears (1-0, 7.33 in 3 games). The Kansas City Royals signed him to a minor league deal in the end of the year but he does not appear to have pitched in their chain. He was 0-2 with a 5.56 ERA for Estrellas in the 2006-2007 Dominican League. In the 2007 Pan-American Games, Vargas started against the home Brazilian team and threw five shutout innings in a win. It was the lone victory for the Dominicans.

Vargas signed with Bologna in Italy for 2008.

Sources: 2007 KBO Official Encyclopedia, Japan Baseball Daily by Gary Garland, Japanesebaseball.com, 1999-2007 Baseball Almanacs, Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database, CPBL database by KT Choi, MLB.com report of Vargas signing with the Royals, 2006-2007 Dominican League stats, 2007 Pan-American Games