The Cubs’ everyday lineup possesses two of the National League’s top four players in at-bats that end in either a walk, home run or strikeout (commonly referred to as the “three true outcomes”: Ian Happ and Kyle Schwarber.

With the way baseball has been trending in recent years, contact-based approaches like that of 29-year-old second baseman Ildemaro Vargas are able to balance out the Cubs lineup’s modern tendencies.

Vargas signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as an international free agent in 2008. The Cardinals released Vargas after seven years in their organization in spring of 2015. He signed with the Independent Atlantic League before the Diamondbacks swooped in weeks later and signed Vargas. The Diamondbacks added him to their 40-man roster the following season and developed him in their minor league system before he debuted in 2017.

On Aug. 11 of this season, the Diamondbacks traded Vargas to the Minnesota Twins for cash considerations, combining his contact abilities with another league-renowned contact hitter — Willians Astudillo. Under a month later, the Twins designated Vargas for assignment.

The Cubs claimed Vargas off waivers from the Minnesota Twins on Sept. 5. His frequent jersey changing is a product of teams making claims when he has been relegated to waivers due to his lack of minor league options. But the consistent claims tell a story: Vargas is a player with a skillset desired by organizations.

In 2019, Vargas had 211 plate appearances with the Diamondbacks and struck out just 11% of the time. If Vargas had enough appearances to be considered a qualified hitter, this would have placed him inside the top five of the league in strikeout rate, next to players like Michael Brantley and Yuli Gurriel.

Vargas’ ability to limit his strikeouts comes from his extremely level swing path and ability to cover all areas of the zone. On pitches in the zone, Vargas has been able to make contact on 89% of pitches he has swung at this year and over 93% last year. The league median in-zone contact rate is right around 86-87% on a yearly basis. 

In addition to contact, Vargas is versatile defensively. He played five positions for the Diamondbacks last season and added first base to his resume this season. The Cubs have a plethora of versatile outfielders, which has pushed Vargas into a purely infield role in his short time with the team, backing up the likes of Nico Hoerner and providing a right-handed complement to Jason Kipnis at second. Vargas has been a switch hitter for his entire career, with reasonable splits regardless of his handedness, but consistently more power from right-handed batter’s box. 

On Sept. 12, Vargas hit a 401-foot home run off the Brewers’ southpaw Josh Hader. It was the second home run of the inning and his first in a Cubs’ uniform. Vargas’ homer also marked the first time Hader has ever allowed a pair of two-strike home runs in any appearance of his 200-plus inning career.

Vargas has had an ability to hammer pitches off above-average left-handed relievers in his career. Of the 8 major league home runs he has hit, the list of his victims include Andrew Miller and Drew Pomeranz in addition to Hader.

As the Cubs near their final few series of the season, the shape of their postseason roster is slowly coming into focus. A player like Vargas could be a surprise impact addition to the team for the stretch run. He is currently the only infielder on the Cubs’ 40-man roster who can switch hit and his versatility knows no bounds.