Dodgers News: Miguel Vargas Will Not Join Team in September

As rosters expanded in September, there was one notable omission from the list of call ups for the Dodgers. Rookie infielder Miguel Vargas.

Vargas opened the season as the starting second baseman and got a long runway to figure things out on the fly at the big league level. Over the first three months, he was up and down offensively but remained in the lineup every day. By July, his playing time began to get cut short. And by the All-Star break, he was sent down to Triple-A where he’s been ever since.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked about the potential of Vargas joining the team this month. In so many words, he said not a chance. Well, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch, but Roberts did say that while the infielder was considered for a September call up, fellow rookie infielder “Michael Busch outplayed him.”

“Michael’s a prospect as well. We absolutely believe in what Miguel Vargas is going to do for us going forward. But I do believe that at some point meritocracy and performance should matter and, to be quite honest, Michael went down there and played well.”

In 81 games with the Dodgers this season Vargas hit just .195 with a .672 OPS. He’s performed much better since going to AAA, posting a .292 average and boosting his OPS to a .858 clip, but Busch blew those AAA numbers out of the water with a .323 average, 1.046 OPS and 24 home runs in 88 games.

It’s been a bit more of a struggle at the MLB level for Busch (.174 in 25 games), but the bulk of his work at AAA was more than enough to earn him this opportunity at playing time in September.

Barring multiple injuries on the Dodger infield, we shouldn’t expect to see Miguel Vargas again until spring training next February.

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