Miguel Vargas, 3rd baseman for the Tulsa Drillers, is the #6 prospect for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 21-year old stands 6’3 and weighs 205 pounds. The Dodgers acquired him as an international free agent from Cuba. Miguel started the year playing for the High-A Great Lake Loons. Vargas batted .314 with seven homeruns and 16 RBIs in 37 games. In the 156 ABs he had with the Loons, he struck out 32 times and walked nine times. On June 17th, the Dodgers called him up to the AA Tulsa Drillers. He is hitting .308 with 12 homeruns and 43 RBIs in 208 ABs. In those 53 games, he struck out 35 times and walked 26 times.
Miguel Vargas has a great approach at the plate, he’s patient and likes to work into deep counts. Because of his approach, he is a great quality contact hitter. Vargas is talented enough to foul off tough pitches with two strikes. He took the COVID shutdown time to be more aggressive in hitter counts (3-1,2-1 counts). It worked, as his slugging percentage increase by 100 points. He is now working on bringing his power into the game. He has already doubled his homerun total in his career and it is good seeing this consistent improvement.
Miguel Vargas has a strong, accurate arm at his current position of 3rd base., He does not move well laterally and his glove skills are not impressive. I predict Vargas will end up becoming a left fielder where those skills aren’t as critical and his bat will be put to good use.
It is estimated that he will be promoted to MLB in 2022. I’m not sure he gets called up next year, but the team has to be happy with the improvement they have seen this season. Miguel Vargas is a very teachable player, and it would not be a bad idea to call him up later in the season next year to learn from guys like Justin Turner and Trea Turner.