The Seattle Mariners rely on Andrés Muñoz, the American League Reliever of the Month for April, in the majority of their save situations.
And that’s meant that so far this season, he’s been pitching a lot.
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So when the Mariners needed a save on Tuesday in Sacramento, a day after Muñoz had thrown 28 pitches against the Athletics, they needed to find somebody else to get the last three outs.
Enter Carlos Vargas.
The 25-year-old right-hander had all of 17 career MLB appearances when his name was called, but he sure didn’t look like it on the mound, recording two strikeouts and working around a pair of two-out, ground-ball singles for his first save in the big leagues.
Oh, and by the way, Vargas had thrown two innings the night before.
It’s a good example of what Vargas provides for the Mariners, who have used him in all kinds of different ways this year.
Need an inning to bridge a lead to Muñoz? He can do that.
Starter couldn’t get out of the gates? How about 3 2/3 innings eaten by Vargas?
Need to hold the opposing offense where they are so the M’s bats can make a comeback? Let Vargas pitch a pair of innings in the middle of the game.
Vargas has been a pleasant surprise this year considering he wasn’t thought of much last year. He made his MLB debut in 2023 with Arizona, but after coming to the Mariners in the trade that sent Eugenio Suárez to the Diamondbacks, he spent all of last season in Triple-A.
Mariners insider Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports explained Friday to Bump and Stacy that there was always hope for Vargas, though.
“He was one of those pitchers that you read about him and you saw the numbers on his stuff, and you realized that he had really great stuff,” Drayer said. “Command was an issue with him, and his first few outings in spring training last year – not just some bullpens but his actual outings in games – were eye-opening. … Then it all went downhill from there.”
Vargas can run his fastball up to triple-digits, and this season he’s relying on a 97 mph sinker along with a slider and cutter. But he showed he still had to figure out how to harness his repertoire after posting a WHIP over 2.00 in spring training in 2024.
“We continued to kind of follow him in Triple-A (in 2024) and you saw the problems that have plagued him and kept him from being a a full-time big leaguer,” Drayer continued. “… It was command. I mean, he had just this insane stuff, insane velocity, and he had no idea where any of it was going.”
He’s got a better idea now, as he went into the Mariners’ weekend series against Toronto with a 2.60 ERA and 12 strikeouts to five walks over 17 1/3 innings (13 appearances) in 2025. There was no guarantee he was going to get this chance, though.
“You know, he made the roster I think mostly because he had a decent spring, and they weren’t quite ready to give up on that. He was out of (minor league) options, so if you sent him down, that was it, he was probably gone,” Drayer said.
“But almost from the get-go, he has contributed. … What we’re seeing from him is we’re seeing the command, we’re seeing the stuff. We’re seeing I think everything people hoped he would be with the stuff that he had.”
Hear the full Bump and Stacy conversation with Mariners insider Shannon Drayer in the podcast at this link or the player above in this post. Catch Bump and Stacy from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.
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