Kansas City Royals: Jason Vargas has come crashing down in second half
The Kansas City Royals saw an electric first half of the 2017 season from starting pitcher Jason Vargas. Since the second half has began, however, Vargas has struggled badly.
Remember when Kansas City Royals fans were buzzing about how good Jason Vargas was to start the year? It was well deserved praise for Vargas too, as the Royals starting pitcher was posting a nice 2.62 ERA to go along with a 12-3 record on the year.
Because of his strong first half, Vargas made it to his first ever All-Star Game and pitched a scoreless inning for the American League. That would be one of the last great outings Vargas would have.
Since his scoreless inning in the All-Star Game, it’s been all down hill for one Jason Vargas. Ol’ Vargy now is sporting a 4.23 ERA and has only added on two wins for a record of 14-10. Not good at all.
This has been a weird season for the Royals. Their rotation started off amazing with Vargas, Danny Duffy, and even Ian Kennedy looking great as the top three guys.
The season has progressed poorly for the starters though, as Duffy is on the disabled list for the second time, Kennedy looks awful, and Vargas has come crashing back down to Earth these past few weeks.
Here are all of Vargas’ August starts and his lone September start for the Royals, starting with the most recent (Tuesday night’s debacle in Detroit):
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- 2 innings, 6 hits, 7 runs (LOSS)
- 6 innings, 7 hits, 5 runs (LOSS)
- 5 innings, 6 hits, 5 runs (LOSS)
- 4.2 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs (LOSS)
- 6 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs (WIN)
- 4.2 innings, 8 hits, 6 runs (LOSS)
- 5 innings, 4 hits, 3 runs (LOSS)
You read correctly. Vargas had one win for the entire month of August and when looking at how badly he had pitched during that month, it’s incredible that he even got that one win.
Jason Vargas didn’t see a lot of time on the mound in 2016 due to coming back from surgery, but he was looking on point to start this year. The hope was that he’d be solid all year long or at least be able to eat innings. Now, he’s barely fulfilling his promise on that second hope, only going two innings on Tuesday night.
There’s still a lot of baseball left to be played, but right now… It’s tough to be optimistic about Jason Vargas looking like a reliable pitcher again this year.
Fortunately, this is the last year on his deal, but if this team does somehow make it to the postseason, then I have no faith in Jason Vargas to go out there and get the job done in a crucial game.