Dodgers News: Mookie Betts Takes Miguel Vargas Under His Wing

Dodgers rookie Miguel Vargas hasn’t had quite the September he hoped when he was called up with the roster expansion in early September, but he has been hitting much better lately, posting a .294 batting average and .748 OPS over his last five games.

Vargas came into September with a chance to compete for a spot on L.A.’s postseason roster, and his bat coming around would be a good sign for that. But the main available role would likely be in the outfield, a position he had never really played before this season. He hasn’t be terrible in left field this month for Los Angeles, but he has often looked like, well, a rookie who hadn’t played much outfield before this year.

One of the benefits of being on the Dodgers, though, is being teammates with some of the best defensive outfielders in baseball.

#Dodgers Mookie Betts is out here early giving Miguel Vargas some tips in the outfield pic.twitter.com/KTz3AliPwF

— Juan Toribio (@juanctoribio) September 30, 2022

Mookie Betts has really embraced his role as a team leader over the past couple years, and having a young outfielder to mentor is right up his alley. Vargas is extremely athletic, so there are certainly tools to be at least a solid outfielder. A little mentoring from a guy with 14 defensive runs saved in the outfield this year can only help.

With Joey Gallo’s inability to take that next step back towards the All-Star he was in Texas, there’s definitely an opportunity for Vargas if he can continue hitting and show he can hold his own in the outfield. It’s good to see him putting in the work.

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