There is the SI Cover curse. The Madden Curse is a thing. The same goes for my topics of baseball conversation here on SFTB. Two years ago I torpedoed Giancarlo Stanton‘s epic start. So far this season I’ve sent Houston’s Dallas Keuchel, Lance McCullers, and Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman to the sidelines. This isn’t my intention. The baseball gods just find it just. If I could control this wretched gift, I would just write features on my fantasy opponents each week, sit back and reap the rewards. Alas, that is not the case and attempting to push out twelve articles a year on Joey Votto would grow tiresome. So this is an apology in advance to fans of the Kansas City Royals, their organization, and most importantly Jason Vargas. This isn’t personal. It’s just damned baseball voodoo.
Jason Vargas has had a career that nary needs a jinx. He burst onto the scene a dozen years ago with the Marlins. Vargas through a complete game against the Dodgers in his fifth career start. It looked like he had it all together. As quickly as he rose, he fell. Injuries wiped out the majority of his 2006 and 2007. Surgery on his hip erased the entirety of 2008.
Vargas would end up in a 12 man, 3 team trade at the end of 2008 with more mediocre names you’ve forgotten about than you’d care to admit. He’d be a noble servant in the Emerald City. Never too great, never too bad. An ERA in the high 3’s, WHIP in the 1.30 range. Vargas was your stereotypical back of the rotation guy.
With a pitstop in Anaheim in 2013, Vargas made his way to the Kansas City Royals for what was sure to be his last big contract. 4 years and $32 million isn’t a deluge of cash in today’s game, but that much for a guy with Vargas’ pedigree seemed both a bargain and an overpay in the same breath. He ate innings but somehow was always hurt. Jason Vargas is enigmatic in that way. The southpaw made it through the year somewhat intact and was rewarded with his first postseason start against his previous club, the Angels. Vargas got a no-decision in that one, but he would be the winning pitcher in the ALCS as the Royals made their first World Series in nearly 30 years. We’ll leave his putrid World Series game out of it, Royals fans don’t need any reminders of that.
What Jason Vargas doesn’t need reminders of though was 2015. He was having a typical Jason Vargas year. ERA in the high 3’s, WHIP in the 1.30 range. You’d expect nothing less. The expectations of what happened on July 21st were there too. Vargas needed Tommy John surgery. At age 22, that could be a necessary reboot to a young career. At age 32, Tommy John could either be a godsend or a death blow to a pitcher’s time in the Majors. It was a bit of both for Vargas. He had to sit on the sidelines as his teammates completed the job they failed one year prior in the World Series. He received a World Series ring, but never threw a pitch to properly earn it. Vargas’ redemption wasn’t complete. Upon his recovery though, Jason Vargas has been a new man.
His three starts at the end of 2016 were mostly written off as a small sample size. His pitches had a new bite to them and Vargas’ attitude on the mound had changed. He had perspective. A man whose career had been riddled with performances towards the median and trips to the disabled list finally got it. Your next pitch may very well be your last. Why not try to make them all your best?
2017 has easily been Vargas’ best year as a professional. He leads the American League in wins (11), ERA (2.29), and pitching WAR (4.0). 30% of Kansas City’s 2017 wins are his. He’s lasted past the fifth in all but one start thus far. Vargas may be their #1 pitcher, yet he still isn’t their ace in the sense of the word. A trip every five days to face his opponent’s biggest gun may turn his game up to 11. We’ll see if that changes after the All-Star Break. The Royals are still somehow in the American League Central race. Vargas at his current pace gives them the best chance to creep up and steal it.
The Royals are still somehow in the American League Central race. While just .500, Kansas City is just 2.5 games out of first. Vargas at his current pace gives them the best chance to creep up and steal it.
As for now, take solace in what Jason Vargas has done in 2017. It’s been a banner year for a man that deserves one. Just know that I’m sorry because writing this piece has all but doomed him going forward. Whoops.