The Mariners announced today that RHP Carlos Vargas is going on the 15-day IL, retroactive to March 24, with a right lat strain.
The lat issue must have cropped up suddenly, because Vargas was on a relatively regular schedule this spring, appearing every 3-4 days. His last appearance was in the spring training finale against San Diego, when he hurled a clean 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout. However, Vargas apparently wasn’t available for the season opener, leading to manager Dan Wilson having to use the two
other lower-leverage relievers – Casey Legumina and Cooper Criswell – in the eighth and ninth innings of a 6-4 loss to Cleveland.
To replace Vargas, the team is calling up RHP Cole Wilcox, who was rotation-mates with Mariners pitcher Emerson Hancock while the two were at Georgia. The Mariners acquired Wilcox, the last remaining piece of the Blake Snell trade, from the Rays for cash in early November. Wilcox was a standout this spring, featuring eye-popping velocity on his fastball and sinker, easily touching 97 and pairing that with a slider/sweeper combo.
It’s easy to see why Wilcox is the Mariners’ first option out of a group of pitchers in Tacoma that has multiple intriguing options. Wilcox has big stuff and the potential for both swing-and-miss with an elevated fastball and the ability to generate weak contact on the ground when he’s locating well with his heavy sinker. It’s that second bit that’s the tricky part, though. Wilcox’s velocity has finally rebounded from where it was before his TJ surgery and recovery (2021-22), but his command remains a work in progress. He’ll now have an opportunity to keep working with the big-league pitching coaches while Vargas is recovering. For now, expect Wilcox to slot into Vargas’s spot in the ‘pen alongside the other lower-leverage arms Criswell and Legumina, although perhaps as the one with the highest upside.
