Miguel Vargas may have cooled off from his red-hot May, but he is still receiving accolades for a swing adjustment he made in late April that saved his big league career.
Vargas was trending toward being a bust after the Chicago White Sox acquired him from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-team trade deadline deal last season. He produced a .104/.217/.170 slash line in 42 games with the White Sox last year.
It looked like Vargas was not going to fare much better at the start of 2025, either. His slash line was a paltry .139/235/.194 on April 19. Vargas and the coaching staff tinkered with his swing, and he went on a tear. He hit seven (7) home runs and produced an .899 OPS in May.
While Vargas did come back to Earth with a .204 average in June, he has produced consistently enough at the plate to prove he belongs in Major Leagues.
Vargas' improvement is considered one of the best in baseball
The mid-season improvement has led to Vargas being ranked as the sixth-most improved player in baseball, according to a recent list from MLB Network.
These are the nine MOST improved players in MLB this year (according to Greg) 📈 pic.twitter.com/sl17USEq4W
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) August 22, 2025
One reason cited by MLB Network is the vast improvement he has made from his terrible production last season. His current average being above .230 looks amazing considering he hit a combined .150 playing for both the Dodgers and the White Sox last season.
"When you think of how lost Miguel Vargas was last year, his average was .150! He couldn't make contact," said Greg Amsinger as he unveiled the list. "Now, he's someone you can dream on and still a very young player."
Vargas is deserving of the recognition, and not just because his previously terrible average is getting above the Mendoza line. His improvement this season is noticeable when you look at some of his other numbers.
Per FanGraphs, Vargas has gone from a -1 fWAR to 0.9 fWAR. His wRC+ grew from 46 last year to being near league-average. His hard-hit percentage is up 14 points from 26.3% last year and he has cut down his strikeout percentage from 24.1% to 17.1%.
Vargas was terrible at hitting fastballs in 2024, with a .145 average per Baseball Savant. He has gotten better at catching up to the heat with a .230 average this season.
That is solid growth, and there is hope that he'll continue to improve on an upward trajectory.
The June and July decline at the plate makes me think that Vargas will not be the All-Star player we saw in May. The overall growth he has made this season, and hitting better in August, gives me hope that he can be a solid, raised-floor player throughout his career on the South Side.
The next contending White Sox team needs those players just as much as it needs superstars.