CLEVELAND — In 2024, Miguel Vargas was lost. He had been traded from the Dodgers, the best team in baseball, to the White Sox, the worst. And his performance plummeted with his spirits. In 42 games with the Sox, he batted .104.
“It was hard at the moment,” Vargas said. “I thought, I just want to have joy and be happy on the field and be myself, and I couldn’t find that. These guys, the last couple years, have helped me, and they encourage me to this point, and I can’t be more glad to be a part of this group of guys.”
Those guys are his Sox teammates, and Vargas credited them with helping him rediscover his joy for baseball. And that helped the third baseman become the Sox’ lone representative for the All-Star Game on July 14 in Philadelphia, where he’ll be a reserve. MLB revealed the initial rosters Saturday. They figure to change based on players’ availability.
“I’m so happy for Vargy,” manager Will Venable said. “You’re not supposed to have favorites, and I’m not going to say he’s my favorite, but I’m a big fan of Vargy. It really starts with the kind of guy he is, the things that he does in the clubhouse, on the field, before you even start talking about the excellent performance that he’s been able to tap into this year.
“He is as good as anybody to represent this club and what we’re about that I can think of.”
Vargas is the Sox’ first All-Star third baseman since Joe Crede in 2008. He hit his 20th home run of the season Friday, capping an epic 10-pitch at-bat with a three-run blast to left field. Entering Saturday, he was tied for fourth in the American League in runs scored (58), sixth in walks (51), tied for sixth in homers and eighth in slugging percentage (.495).
His production follows a strong second half to last season, in which he bested his first-half OPS by 110 points, and an offseason of hard work.
“He went into the offseason and worked extremely hard on his body, extremely hard on his swing,” Venable said. “You saw the bat speed go up. He physically looks like he’s in a better spot and has been able to sustain these stretches of performing well to the point where it’s just what you expect every day.”
Venable hoped to have more All-Stars than just Vargas.
“I’m really disappointed. I’m pissed about it, honestly,” he said, “because I just think that we have so many good candidates, and as good as this team has played, they’re deserving of that. At the same time, maybe it’s emblematic of the type of team we have. Hopefully, we get some of the guys sneaking in there.”
Those might be shortstop Colson Montgomery and right-hander Davis Martin. Montgomery ranks fifth in the AL with 21 homers, and Martin is third in the league among pitchers with a 3.1 WAR.