Signed what seemed to be an overly-generous two-year, $16 million contract during the 2017 offseason, Jason Vargas’s 2018 was even worse that most expected, as reflected by his brutal 5.77 ERA, 65 ERA+, and -1.0 bWAR. These numbers would have looked even worse were they not were mitigated by his final seven starts of the season, when Vargas went 5-1 with a 2.56 ERA (3.47 FIP).
Whether encouraged by these numbers, too cheap to sign any back of the rotation depth to compete with Vargas, or some combination of both, the lefty entered the 2019 season the unquestioned fifth starter.