LOS ANGELES — The path to an everyday role with the Dodgers in 2023 seemed to be mapped out for Miguel Vargas.
The top hitting prospect in the system, Vargas had played third base more than any other position by far during his four seasons in the minor leagues. During his big-league cameo last season, three of his seven starts in the field came at third base (and the other four in left field).
When the Dodgers let veteran third baseman Justin Turner leave in free agency, the way seemed clear for Vargas to open next season as the Dodgers’ primary third baseman.
But the Dodgers will head to spring training next week with Vargas penciled in at second base – a position he played in just 28 games over those four minor-league seasons and not at all in the majors.
“At this point – and we’ll continue to evaluate – he’s taking a lot of reps and that (second base) is his focus as of right now,” General Manager Brandon Gomes said. “And that’s trending really well. He’s a great athlete, and he’s working incredibly hard as well.”
Over the past four seasons, Gavin Lux has started more games at second base (153) than anyone else for the Dodgers. He is moving back to his natural position, replacing the departed Trea Turner at shortstop this season.
Next in line has been Max Muncy (129 starts at second over the past four seasons). But the Dodgers plan to make Muncy the primary third baseman – a position he played more often than Justin Turner last year with the DH rule adopted in the National League.
“I think I performed pretty well there last year. Our internal metrics were very good for me,” Muncy said, an analytic assessment Gomes also mentioned. “I did start feeling very comfortable because I was playing it an awful lot. Third base is a position I’ve always said that you need to play consistently to feel comfortable over there. When I was bouncing around and played there once every week, two weeks I felt like it was a very hard position…
Read the full article here
