by They get to the ballpark together, they leave the ballpark together. Marco Vargas and Ronald Hernández might not be blood related — or even from the same country — but they have a bond like family.
“He’s my brother,” Vargas said of Hernández.
Both were signed by the Miami Marlins as international free agents, Hernández in 2021 out of Venezuela and Vargas in 2022 out of Mexico. In 2023, they were traded together to the New York Mets for David Robertson.
“We were very good teammates over there, but since we got traded, we started to be brothers,” Hernández said.
Following the trade, both players spent a few weeks in rookie ball before ending the year with a cup of coffee at Single-A, and would return to the level for 2024.
Vargas’ season was just 37 games scattered around four separate stints on the injured list with wrist and hamstring troubles. When he played, he wasn’t his full self, hitting just .208 with a .607 OPS. He still got on base, drawing 34 walks en route to a .369 on-base percentage, but his power was basically nonexistent. 23 of Vargas’ 27 hits were singles, and all four of his extra-base hits were doubles.
As for Hernández, he hit .271 with a .721 OPS and earned a promotion to Brooklyn for the final month of the season. He started 2025 in Brooklyn as well, but Vargas stayed back in Single-A. For the first time in a long time, Vargas and Hernández weren’t playing together.
This time around, it was a different story for Vargas. In 13 games, he hit a staggering .409/.527/.545/1.072. He walked 10 times to just seven strikeouts and had four extra-base hits, earning a promotion to join Hernández in High-A Brooklyn.
“We’ve been playing together everywhere,” Vargas said. “… He came here last year. I didn’t because I was injured. Now we’re together again.”
Hernández was ready in Brooklyn, waiting to be reunited.
“He called me and he told me ‘Hey, what’s up bro?” Hernández said. “And I said, ‘I know you’re coming.’ It was very special. My mom knows about him, so she was very excited too. My wife, too. We are very happy.”
In his Cyclones debut, Vargas hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th down the left field line.
“It was a good moment,” Vargas said. “My first game here in High-A, in Brooklyn, at home. It was good because it gives me more confidence. First day, give my team the win.”
Less than 24 hours later, Hernández had maybe the best game of his career. In a 15-1 Cyclones win over the Wilmington Blue Rocks — the same game Jacob Reimer hit three home runs in — Hernández went 4-for-4 with two home runs.
Even more special, his mom was there to witness it.
“That’s an amazing moment,” Hernández said. “Especially because everything I do in my life is super special when she can see every step I make in life. It was super special. I think she is still crying right now.”
He said it’s the second time his mom has been to the United States, visiting last year around the same time to watch him play in St. Lucie.
Hernández even stole a base in that game, something he’s been doing much more of this year. In 25 games, he has 10 stolen bases. He had eight in 108 games in 2024.
Hernandez said he put in a lot of effort this offseason to drop some weight, and wound up losing 25 pounds. He worked this spring on learning to read pitchers and getting good jumps, and asked Nick Morabito and Chris Suero, two of the faster players in the Mets system, for advice.
“They teach me a lot,” Hernández said. “You just try to see windows and take the opportunity.”
People don’t normally expect catchers to be big base-stealing threats, so he’s taken advantage of the opportunities that arise.
Vargas and Hernández are both ranked on the Mets’ top 30 prospects list on MLB Pipeline, coming in at No. 14 and No. 26, respectively. Vargas has some of the best bat-to-ball skills in the system, and Hernández is a switch-hitting catcher who has both a solid bat and glove.
Gilbert Gómez, the Cyclones manager, said Vargas has a really good rhythm to his game and the ability to slow the game down when he needs to.
“It’s very rare that you see at that age a guy that can truly stick to the process,” Gómez said. “You can tell that his level of focus is always there.”
Gómez said it was really good to see Vargas come through for the walk-off knock in his first game for Brooklyn, as well as to see Hernández have his big 4-for-4 day after what he described as an unlucky stretch of games at the plate.
“Seeing the work that they put in, getting out there, and actually being rewarded like that doesn’t happen every day,” Gómez said. “4-for-4 with two bombs is a hell of a day.”
Hernández said he likes to see Vargas go through his hitting routine because he thinks the two are very similar, so they can help each other.
“I think he’s better,” Hernández said, with a big smile on his face.
The Brooklyn Cyclones season is underway! For promotion and ticket information, visit www.milb.com/brooklyn.
