Miguel Vargas

Miguel Vargas

24-Year-Old Third Baseman3B
Chicago White Sox
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Vargas was a trendy pick in 2023 fantasy drafts as news emerged that he would be the Dodgers' Opening Day second baseman, but by mid-July he was back in the minors, where he remained for the remainder of the campaign. The heralded prospect struggled to a .195/.305/.367 slash line over 81 games, and the demotion came after he batted a paltry .079 (5-for-63) over his final 23 contests. Despite the disappointing stat line, there are reasons to believe that Vargas can succeed at the MLB level. He demonstrated refined plate discipline while up with the big club, posting a hearty 12.5 percent walk rate and a respectable 20.1 percent strikeout rate along with a borderline-elite 20.8 percent chase rate, per Statcast. Vargas didn't hit the ball hard consistently, but it's promising that of his 50 big-league hits last year, over half went for extra bases. Importantly, Vargas didn't sulk after being sent down, instead extending his run of minor-league success with an .886 OPS and 10 homers over 60 Triple-A contests. Los Angeles filled the void at second base following Vargas' demotion primarily by transitioning Mookie Betts from right field, and the experiment went smoothly enough that Betts will likely see considerable time at the keystone again in 2024. While that could limit Vargas' opportunities at the position, it may also mean that he gets reps in the corner outfield, where he logged some time down the stretch in the minors last season. It's unlikely that he'll be handed the keys to a starting spot out the gate as he was last year, but the Dodgers clearly still see Vargas as a part of their future, and he could earn a substantial role with a strong spring. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season
From Preseason
#414
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with the Dodgers in March of 2024. Traded to the White Sox in July of 2024.
Taking seat Friday
3BChicago White Sox
September 27, 2024
Vargas is not in the lineup for Friday's game in Detroit.
ANALYSIS
Vargas had started each of the last five games and eight of the last nine contests, but he'll begin Friday's series opener on the bench. Bryan Ramos will play third base and bat seventh for the White Sox.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
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2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
8
2
3
2
11
3
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
4
2
10
6
9
1
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+5%
OPS vs LHP
2024
 
 
+15%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+5%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+7%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .603 209 23 6 20 2 .176 .268 .335
Since 2022vs Right .576 381 39 7 36 5 .174 .276 .300
2024vs Left .550 92 9 2 6 0 .181 .261 .289
2024vs Right .477 145 13 3 10 3 .130 .241 .236
2023vs Left .696 93 11 3 10 2 .171 .301 .395
2023vs Right .662 210 25 4 22 1 .206 .306 .356
2022vs Left .471 24 3 1 4 0 .174 .167 .304
2022vs Right .439 26 1 0 4 1 .167 .231 .208
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Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+12%
OPS on Road
2024
 
 
+14%
OPS on Road
2023
 
 
+4%
OPS on Road
2022
 
 
+51%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .554 299 35 5 24 1 .170 .272 .282
Since 2022Away .619 291 27 8 32 6 .180 .275 .344
2024Home .472 112 12 2 6 0 .150 .232 .240
2024Away .538 125 10 3 10 3 .151 .264 .274
2023Home .658 149 19 2 15 1 .195 .324 .333
2023Away .684 154 17 5 17 2 .195 .286 .398
2022Home .406 38 4 1 3 0 .139 .184 .222
2022Away .614 12 0 0 5 1 .273 .250 .364
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Stat Review
How does Miguel Vargas compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.44
 
BB Rate
10.5%
 
K Rate
24.1%
 
BABIP
.177
 
ISO
.107
 
AVG
.150
 
OBP
.249
 
SLG
.257
 
OPS
.506
 
wOBA
.235
 
Exit Velocity
86.2 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
25.0%
 
Barrels/PA
3.0%
 
Expected BA
.175
 
Expected SLG
.291
 
Sprint Speed
23.3 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
32.2%
 
Line Drive %
17.1%
 
Fly Ball %
50.7%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Miguel Vargas See More
AL FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week
44 days ago
Erik Siegrist checks out the available talent in the AL heading into the final week of the regular season, and a favorable schedule could make Kyle Manzardo a strong roster addition.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Last Ups
45 days ago
Ryan McMahon and the Rockies finish the season with six straight home games.
Lineup Lowdown: American League
49 days ago
Trevor Story is back from a long injury layoff and back in an everyday role, but he's yet to hit his way into the top half of the Boston lineup.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: The Playoff Push
52 days ago
Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers are one of 14 teams with a seven-game schedule from September 16-22. Todd Zola highlights the matchups and unveils his weekly hitter rankings.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Scoring is Way Down
59 days ago
The Cleveland Guardians are one of six teams with seven games the week of September 9 to September 15. See how they and the rest of the MLB rank in Todd Zola's weekly hitter rankings.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2020
2019
Vargas is simply one of the best pure hitters who is still technically a prospect. He hit .304/.404/.511 with a 14.6 K%, 31.7 Hard% and 17 home runs in 113 games as a 22-year-old at Triple-A and predictably played sparingly during a cup of coffee in the majors. His team context - the Dodgers seemingly always have a few quality options for his positions (first base, third base, left field) - is by far the biggest knock on Vargas in the short term. Vargas is not thought of as a burner, but he stole 17 bases on 22 attempts and has a 94th percentile sprint speed, so he could at least be a 4.5-category contributor with regular playing time. He is talented enough to take the left field job and run with it early this season, but it's possible that the Dodgers' crowded depth chart leads to Vargas being a post-hype sleeper in 2024.
Always seen as a bat-first player with a strong hit tool, Vargas solidified himself as a top-50 prospect for dynasty leagues by hitting for significantly more power than he had to date against full-season pitching. He hit .319/.380/.526 with 23 home runs, a 16.4 K% and an 8.3 BB% in 120 games at High-A and Double-A. He was at least 40% better than the average hitter at each level and clearly has one of the better hit tools in the minors. Vargas will chase out of the zone a decent amount, but his ability to make contact and do damage on pitches in the zone allowed him to have a dominant season at an appropriate age (21) for his levels. Vargas got work at third base, second base and first base last season and could qualify at some combination of those positions in the majors. The Dodgers have a never-ending stream of infielders marching to the majors, but Vargas might be the best hitter of those who have yet to reach The Show. He will likely spend most of the year at Triple-A and could earn the call sometime this summer.
Vargas is a great hitter with an uncertain defensive home in an organization with seemingly unlimited depth on the position player side. This makes him a tricky player to evaluate for dynasty leagues. His 19.4 Hard% is a very poor mark for a player with his defensive profile, but considering over 35% of his hits went to the opposite field and he played half the year as a 19-year-old at High-A, we can excuse the lack of blistering contact for now. Vargas is a hitter first, and a power hitter second, but the power will have to come eventually for him to get playing time. As a 6-foot-3, 205-pound third baseman who throws and hits right-handed, it will be imperative that he maintains the lateral agility necessary to stick at the hot corner, as the Dodgers probably won't find room for a player of his ilk at first base. He kept his weight in check last season, which is an encouraging sign.
After a two-year absence from competitive baseball, Vargas burst onto the dynasty-league radar by leading the Pioneer League with a .394 AVG before earning a promotion to the Midwest League. Vargas, who turned 19 in November, defected from Cuba when he was 16 and signed with the Dodgers for $300,000 in September of 2017. He was too advanced for rookie-level pitchers, but met some resistance at Low-A. Vargas used the whole field at all three stops, but after his promotion to Low-A, his LD% plummeted from 25.3% to 17.9% and his GB% spiked from 38.0% to 51.8%, which largely explains his drop in production. Already 6-foot-3, 200 pounds, it is quite possible Vargas (R/R) will be a below-average defensive third baseman by the time he is big-league ready, but the Dodgers won't move him to first base until they absolutely have to. His offensive production has a chance to be good enough for mediocre defense to be tolerated at third base.
More Fantasy News
Goes deep Sunday
3BChicago White Sox
September 23, 2024
Vargas went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a stolen base in Sunday's loss to the Padres.
ANALYSIS
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Not starting Friday
3BChicago White Sox
September 20, 2024
Vargas isn't in the White Sox's lineup for Friday's game versus San Diego.
ANALYSIS
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Still has chances for playing time
3BChicago White Sox
September 16, 2024
The White Sox intend to prioritize playing time for Vargas and Bryan Ramos down the stretch of the regular season, despite the return of Yoan Moncada (adductor) from the 60-day injured list, Kyle Glaser of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Losing work to Ramos
3BChicago White Sox
September 15, 2024
Vargas is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Athletics.
ANALYSIS
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Sitting Saturday
3BChicago White Sox
September 14, 2024
Vargas is not in Saturday's lineup against the Athletics.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
May be in danger of demotion
3BLos Angeles Dodgers
July 7, 2023
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Friday that Vargas could be demoted to the minors if he continues to struggle offensively, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports.
ANALYSIS
The 23-year-old has been absent from the starting lineup in three of the Dodgers' last four games, with Mookie Betts instead getting the call at second base. Vargas brought considerable fantasy hype into the 2023 campaign, but he's slashing just .133/.235/.286 over his last 116 plate appearances dating back to May 26. His season OPS has fallen to .670.
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