GLENDALE, Ariz. – 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 year 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 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…
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