D-backs' Ildemaro Vargas extends 23-game hit streak, tied for second longest to start MLB season since 1940
At 34 years old, Vargas leads the majors with a .378 batting average this season.
Ildemaro Vargas is one of the best stories in baseball right now. The veteran utility infielder is 34 years old, and he’s in what’s technically his fourth stint with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He’s also MLB’s batting average leader and the architect of three historic hitting streaks.
Although the D-backs suffered a 13-1 defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday, stomaching a sixth loss in their past nine games, the switch-hitting Vargas stacked two more hits. He’s notched a hit in each of his 23 outings this season and now is tied for the second longest hit streak to start a season since 1940, according to MLB. com’s Sarah Langs .
He’s matched the mark Édgar Rentería set in 2006 with the Atlanta Braves. Rentería wound up making his fifth and final All-Star team that season. Longest hitting streaks to start season, last 90 years: 1976 Ron LeFlore: 30 games 1937 Gee Walker: 27 2026 Ildemaro Vargas: 23 *active 2006 Edgar Renteria: 23 1971 Joe Torre: 22 — Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 30, 2026 Vargas needs to hit safely in seven more games to tie Ron LeFlore for the longest such streak.
LeFlore opened the 1976 campaign with a hit in the first 30 games he played for the Detroit Tigers that year, in which he earned All-Star recognition for the first and only time in his career. As for Vargas’ second hit streak, well, that one dates back to last season. Since 2025, he’s tallied a hit in 26 consecutive appearances.