Rookie Miguel Vargas Wants to Be on the Same Level as His Dodgers Teammates
As the long Cactus League season has drudged on, it feels like the Miguel Vargas storyline has dwindled a bit. Heading into spring training, the idea that Vargas was essentially being handed the keys to a starting job with the Dodgers was noteworthy. But as the spring has gone along, the rookie second baseman has settled into a nice routine that’s kept him out of the headlines.
And that’s a good thing.
He’s staying quiet and doing his job well. That’s exactly what you want you should want to see out of a rookie. Well, you’d prefer he be balling out of his mind and hitting .400, but quiet is better than the question marks.
Since the start of the offseason, Vargas has put in the work and the effort to get better while learning his new position at second base. And this spring, he expressed to DodgersNation.com that he’s working to get better while staying the same guy he’s always been at the plate. More recently, he told AM570 LA Sports Radio his goal is to be considered a peer amongst his veteran teammates. He wants to do the hard work and prove he belongs in the same clubhouse as guys like Miguel Rojas, J.D. Martinez, and Julio Urias.
“I just want to be on the same level as my teammates. I see how hard they work and I want to be the same competitor as them. I have to work hard to get to that point, but I just want to keep doing that and hopefully be healthy for this season.”
Via Dodger Talk, AM570
One example of his hard work was his effort to return from a fractured pinkie finger that kept him from swinging a bat for the first week of spring training games. While he was forced to keep the bat on his shoulders, he still grinded it out and played solid defense at second base. And since he got the green light to swing again, he’s hit a solid .280 over 25 at-bats.
Vargas will be in the lineup on opening day and is primed to excel this season. He has all the support he needs around him with guys like Rojas and Martinez, and his manager Dave Roberts make sure he’s in the best position to succeed right out of the gate.
