Miguel

Vargas

Vargas did most of his damage in the early stages of Monday’s eventual rout at loanDepot park, putting Chicago on the scoreboard with an RBI single in the third inning before walloping a grand slam down the left field line off Marlins starter Chris Paddack in the fourth. It was his first round-tripper of the season. He picked up an additional RBI with a sixth inning sacrifice fly to cap off one of the strongest performances of his career. The 26-year-old former top prospect remains a strong corner infield option for fantasy managers in deeper mixed leagues.

Vargas went deep against Padres ace Nick Pivetta, sending a 406-foot blast to left-center field for his first big fly of the spring. The 26-year-old infielder finally gained some traction at the highest level with the White Sox last year, blasting a career-high 16 round-trippers in 138 games. He projects as a viable 20-homer, 10-steal threat, which gives him some appeal in deeper mixed leagues as a corner infield option.

Vargas has hit well in the early portion of Cactus League action with a .429/.467/.571 slash. He’s coming off a so-so 2025 campaign with a .235/.317/.402 slash with 16 homers, making Vargas a tough sell as more than a bench option on fantasy rosters in deeper leagues.

Vargas crushed a 404-foot (100.1 mph EV) two-run shot off of Brad Lord in the top half of the first inning, giving the White Sox an early lead that they would never relinquish. He also worked a walk in the fifth inning, finishing the day 1-for-3. The versatile 25-year-old finishes the 2025 season hitting an underwhelming .235/.317/.402 with 16 homers, 60 RBI and a 100/56 K/BB ratio over 568 plate appearances.

For the second straight game, Vargas opened the scoring in the first inning — this time smacking an RBI double off of Yu Darvish to give the White Sox a 1-0 advantage. He also led off the sixth inning with a single but was erased on a double play ball. With his two-hit attack, Vargas continues to climb toward respectability with a .230/.310/.400 slash line to go with 15 long balls and 56 RBI.

The versatile 25-year-old opened the scoring in the home half of the first inning with a 371-foot (100.3 mph EV) two-run blast off of Dylan Cease that gave the White Sox an early 2-0 lead. He also drew a walk in the ballgame, finishing the evening 1-for-3. The 25-year-old is now slashing .228/.309/.397 with 15 homers and 55 RBI on the season.

Vargas did have one well-struck fly today, but it was a 388-foot flyout. Statcast said it would have been a homer in three ballparks. The hitless series dragged Vargas’s OPS back under .700 for the first time since July 20. His fine run in May and June has made him a fixture in the White Sox lineup while healthy, but at .227/.308/.391 overall, he probably hasn’t done enough to guarantee himself a spot in 2026. The problem is his .253 BABIP; both his 40% hard-hit rate and 18% strikeout rate are pretty good. Still, it’s hard to chalk that bad BABIP up as a fluke when his career mark was horrible .204 coming into this season.

Vargas skips a minor league rehab assignment and jumps back into Chicago’s lineup for Wednesday’s showdown against the Rays. The 25-year-old corner infielder wound up missing nearly two weeks with a left hand sprain. He’s put together the strongest season of his career so far, blasting 14 homers and chipping in 52 RBI across 121 games.

Vargas has been sidelined with a hand sprain since August 29th. White Sox manager Will Venable said that Vargas won’t require a rehab assignment, which means that he could return by the end of this week. His return could cut into the playing time for Curtis Mead, who has been starting regularly at third base.

Vargas suffered the injury when Aaron Judge plowed into his arm at first base during Thursday’s loss to the Yankees. No word yet on the severity of the sprain or how much time the 25-year-old infielder may miss. Tim Elko was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move and is expected to see the bulk of the action at first base while Vargas is shelved.