Miguel Vargas finished Spring Training as a starter with the Los Angeles Dodgers and as Pelota Cubana reported in an earlier article is expected to be in the lineup for the Californians come Opening Day.
Vargas hit eighth in the lineup and played second base on the final day of the pre-season. The game in question was of course also the last in a series of the spring known as the Freeway Series against their neighbors Los Angeles Angels and ended 13-5 in favor of the Angels. The infielder went 1-3 at the plate on the day with a strikeout.
A few hours earlier Fanduel named the young Cuban amongst its favorites for the Rookie of the Year in National League. In those rankings, the son of Lázaro Vargas, former third baseman for Havana’s Industriales and the Cuban national team ranks forth amongst the candidates sharing place with the Venezuelan Ezequiel Tovar.
The first three spots in the predictions for Rookie of the Year are taken up by Corbin Carroll, Jordan Walker and Kodai Senga. While, in the American League, the favorites are Gunnar Henderson, Masataka Yoshida and Antonhy Volpe.
Vargas closed the spring with a slash line of .250/.389/.386 (AVE/OBP/SLU) and 11 hits in 44 at bats. Of those hits three were doubles and a one was a long ball. In addition, he scored eight runs, knocked in two others and posted a .775 OPS. The Havana native debuted on the grand stage last year where in 18 games he hit .170 with a double, a home run and drove in eight runs.
2023 MLB ROY Rankings, per Fanduel:
— Shawn Spradling (@Shawn_Spradling) March 28, 2023
AL
1. 🇺🇸Gunnar Henderson
2. 🇯🇵Masataka Yoshida
3. 🇺🇸🇮🇹Anthony Volpe
4. 🇺🇸🇵🇷Trison Casas
5. 🇺🇸Grayson Rodriguez
NL
1. 🇺🇸🇹🇼Corbin Carroll
2. 🇺🇸Jordan Walker
3. 🇯🇵Kodai Senga
t4. 🇨🇺Miguel Vargas
t4. 🇻🇪Ezequiel Tovar
(🏳️=WBC eligibility) pic.twitter.com/BUt1gkqPlB