Vargas trying to find way back after bad year
Miguel Vargas experienced something for the first time last year — failure.
“I never struggled with my hitting before,” said Vargas, the Dodgers’ top prospect going into spring training a year ago. “Obviously everybody has good years and bad years but it had never happened to me before. It was kind of new for me.”
Vargas struggled mightily, batting just .195 with a .672 OPS after batting .310 as a minor leaguer and earning high marks for his ‘hit tool.’ Handed the job as the starting second baseman in spring training, he had it taken away at the All-Star break when the Dodgers sent him back to Triple-A. He spent the rest of the season there. The Dodgers never recalled him, not even when rosters expanded in September.
“Obviously it was pretty tough,” Vargas said. “Being in the big leagues full time (then to) have those injuries and not be able to be myself, that was pretty tough.
“(Being sent down), that was very hard. Every player wants to be in the big leagues. This clubhouse — I missed this clubhouse a lot. It was a pretty tough moment. I don’t think anybody wants to pass through that. After I was in Triple-A, it gave me time to think about everything I was doing.”
Vargas said he relied on his family to be his support system, particularly his father. A star in Cuban baseball — so much so that he appeared on a postage stamp in his native country — Lazaro Vargas was able to remind his son
GLENDALE, ARIZ. »
of the vagaries of baseball success.
“It happened the same to him,” Miguel said. “When he was younger, he had a tough year before he became as great as he is. I think he helped me a lot. Having him on my side, giving me his experience was very helpful to me.”
Being healthy will be helpful too. Though he denied it at the time, Vargas acknowledges now that a pair of hand injuries contributed to his struggles. He suffered a hairline fracture in his right pinkie during spring training, limiting his ability to swing the bat in games. Then he was hit in the right thumb by a pitch in the first week of the season.
“Things didn’t go well last year,” Vargas said. “I had a couple injuries early in the season, in spring training. It was the first time I got hurt. It was weird for me. Things happened and I wasn’t able to be what I want to be.
“I wasn’t the same obviously. I think that didn’t bother me but the injuries made me have bad habits.”
Vargas said he never really recovered his swing again during the season but he’s healthy “and ready to go” now.
Problem is the Dodgers really have nowhere for him to play.
A year ago, he was asked to learn how to play second base to fit into their lineup. This spring, Vargas has been working in left field because playing time at first, second and third base is blocked for him. Even in left field, though, Vargas is blocked by Teoscar Hernandez and Chris Taylor.
“I don’t know. That’s the answer I have to find out,” Vargas said when asked where he fit into the Dodgers’ plans. “I want to come in here and be me. I can’t control that (roster decisions). I just have to control what I can. Obviously I want to be part of this team and be what I can be.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he has not talked to Vargas about his status or last year’s struggles, just telling the 24-year-old to “control what you can control.”
“I think last year was certainly a learning experience for him. I think he even said, at some point, he lost some confidence,” Roberts said. “But this spring, he looks fantastic. And I don’t know how it’s gonna play out when we break camp. But Miguel is still a big part of what we’re doing now, and going forward.”
He might be a big part of what some other team is doing eventually. Like Michael Busch, Vargas has proved everything he needs to prove at the Triple-A level and another year there, waiting for an opportunity with the Dodgers, might be a waste of time. Busch was traded to the Cubs this winter. Vargas could find his road back to the big leagues taking a similar route at some point.
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” Vargas said. “I was just thinking this offseason, ‘Get ready. Get ready and be the best version I can be.’ And whatever happens happens.”