White Sox Player’s Hot Start Fuels Hopes For Big Year

In the midst of one of the worst seasons in Major League Baseball history last year, the White Sox made a huge three team trade. This trade saw the White Sox send Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham to the St. Louis Cardinals, while Michael Kopech was sent to the Dodgers. In return, the White Sox received three players, Jeral Perez, Alexander Albertus, and the player most are familiar with, Miguel Vargas.

While Albertus did not play a game for the White Sox due to a season ending injury, Jeral Perez had a solid finish to the season in the White Sox minor league system. Vargas on the other hand had a forgettable start to his White Sox career.

In 42 games for the White Sox, Vargas hit .104 with a .217 OBP. He added two homeruns, seven RBIs, and two stolen bases. This was not exactly what Sox fans wanted to see from the player they traded three solid major leaguers for.

However, this season looks to be different for Vargas, as he has made some offseason adjustments, ones that the White Sox noticed last year, but waited until the offseason to make the changes.

These adjustments are clearly working, as Vargas is on fire this spring. In 25 at-bats, Vargas is hitting .400 with one homer and four RBIs. While it is only Spring Training, this is the exact kind of performance you want to see out of Vargas, as it gives you hope for what he can do during the regular season.

Vargas is only 25 and has just 500 at-bats under his belt, so there is plenty of room for development. With new hitting coordinator Ryan Fuller in the fold, he could unlock what made Vargas a consensus top-40 prospect in baseball in the Dodgers organization.

FanGraphs believes that there will be improvement this year, as they project a .227/.325/.382 slash line with 12 homeruns, 44 RBIs and nine stolen bases. While that would be a significant improvement from his numbers last season, that would still be slightly disappointing to see from Vargas, especially considering his Spring Training numbers.

If Vargas can hit around .250 with a .350+ OBP, adding 15-20 homeruns, that would be a huge stepping stone in his development, potentially etching him into the lineup when the White Sox are good again.

Vargas has been working at both third and first base this spring, giving the team plenty of flexibility to keep him in the lineup. If Andrew Vaughn is traded during the year, that would allow Vargas to slide to first while Bryan Ramos could man third base.

It is still just Spring Training, but Vargas is giving fans a glimpse of hope that he can be a solid contributor for them. He struggled the most with velocity last year, so when you start seeing him hit pitches thrown at 95 MPH or more, watch out.