Amid May Power Surge, Things Are Coming Together for Miguel Vargas and the Dodgers
Miguel Vargas is finally showing off that power and hit tool we heard so much about from his minor league days. He's now at 4 home runs this season with 3 of those coming in May alone. In fact, 7 of his 14 extra base hits this season have come since May 2nd.
Slow but surely the bat has come along. However, the defense is still a bit of a work in progress for the Dodgers. In a recent chat with reporters, Dave Roberts talked about the defensive side of the ball for Vargas and some things the coaching staff is currently changing for the infielder.
“He’s catching what he gets to,” Roberts said, acknowledging that range is Vargas’ biggest defensive weakness at this point. “It’s also a body position issue that I think we’re attacking … in the sense of not trying to start so low because he gets stuck. I think right now we feel much more confident in him not starting so low which allows for his body to move laterally better.”
While the defense is under construction, the bat is something Doc is liking at the moment
"There's a little bit more aggressiveness with the swing at the balls in the strike zone. Where it was the thumb residual is past or something, I think I just see more aggressive swings in there."
Vargas said before hitting home runs in consecutive games that he's been working to get "more rhythm in the box" and trying to fight habits that had him "stuck," leading to a long, less explosive swing.
The rookie will continue to be a work in progress for the Dodgers but things are progressing positively indeed.
