{"id":632387,"date":"2026-03-19T21:24:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T21:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/632387\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T21:24:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T21:24:41","slug":"miguel-vargas-having-a-really-nice-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/632387\/","title":{"rendered":"Miguel Vargas ‘having a really nice spring’"},"content":{"rendered":"

GLENDALE, Ariz. \u2014 Doubles were a specialty for Miguel Vargas last season. He has carried that over to the spring, with the latest examples coming Sunday against the Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium.<\/p>\n

The Chicago White Sox third baseman hit a ground-rule double to left-center against Royals starter Cole Ragans in the third inning. Facing Alex Lange in the fifth inning, Vargas doubled to left field.<\/p>\n

Vargas has a team-leading six doubles during a productive spring.<\/p>\n

Photos: Chicago White Sox on photo day at spring training<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cPhysically and mentally, I feel in a better spot than I was last year,\u201d Vargas told the Tribune last week. \u201cMaking little adjustments day by day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s still at spring training, but I want to take it as serious as I can. Be like it\u2019s in the season because it\u2019s not much longer until we leave from here. I want to take every single at-bat like it\u2019s an in-season at-bat and make sure I\u2019m ready for opening day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vargas played in a career-high 138 games last season<\/a>. He led the Sox with 80 runs, 32 doubles and 56 walks. He finished tied for 14th in the American League in doubles while slashing .234\/.316\/.401 with 16 home runs and 60 RBIs.<\/p>\n

Vargas entered Thursday 14-for-44 (.318) with six doubles, one home run, two RBIs, six walks and 11 runs in 15 Cactus League games.\u00a0Manager Will Venable said the infielder is \u201ckind of quietly having a really nice spring.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, in his progression, certainly there are things in the clubhouse where he\u2019s one of our leaders and he continues to emerge as a guy, as a vocal leader that guys are looking at,\u201d Venable said last week. \u201cHe\u2019s always a guy setting a good example. And then defensively, it\u2019s been about the pre-pitch movement and being on time with that, which he\u2019s done a nice job of.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know, talking to (hitting coach Derek Shomon<\/a>) and (assistant hitting coach) Joel (McKeithan), getting him more consistent at the plate with some of the things he\u2019s trying to do, there\u2019s a lot of clarity around what his objectives are for him personally. Also feel good about that. And really the defense, I\u2019m really looking forward to seeing during the season, but it\u2019s been nice so far in the spring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defense has been Vargas\u2019 priority.<\/p>\n

\"WhiteWhite Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas fields a grounder during a spring training workout at Camelback Ranch on Feb. 16, 2026, in Glendale, Ariz. (Eileen T. Meslar\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my biggest things was on my defensive side, that\u2019s something I\u2019ve been working really hard on it,\u201d Vargas said. \u201cI want to help the team, I want to help the pitchers. Everybody is really excited and we\u2019re going to be ready to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s everything (defensively), range, be ready, prepare for every single pitch. Be consistent with my pre-pitch. Sometimes it\u2019s hard because sometimes you have those days where you don\u2019t get any ground balls, some days you get one ground ball. But you\u2019ve got to stay locked in and think every pitch is going to go your way. It\u2019s fun, it\u2019s really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Fun\u2019 is how Vargas described the vibe during spring training camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been great so far,\u201d Vargas said. \u201cThe whole clubhouse, we\u2019re getting closer and closer every week. It\u2019s fun to see the atmosphere in here, it\u2019s fun to be here, it\u2019s fun to enjoy it. We\u2019re all pretty excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all building to the March 26 season opener in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been talking about the first day of the season a lot,\u201d Vargas said. \u201cThat\u2019s what the whole point of this camp is, thinking about that goal \u2014 the first day of the season. We\u2019re getting ready for that moment. I think we\u2019re in a really good spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all engaged. Everybody is playing good defense, taking good at-bats. Pitchers are making the pitches they have to. That\u2019s a good sign, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roster move<\/p>\n

The Sox returned pitcher Alexander Alberto to the Tampa Bay Rays, the team announced Thursday.<\/p>\n

The right-hander had a 10.80 ERA over seven appearances, allowing eight earned runs in 6 2\/3 innings. He was one of two Rule 5 picks for the Sox in December<\/a>, along with right-hander Jedixson P\u00e1ez.<\/p>\n

With Thursday\u2019s move, the team\u2019s 40-man roster decreased to 39. The Sox have 40 players remaining in camp: 20 pitchers, four catchers, eight infielders and eight outfielders.<\/p>\n

Broadcast news<\/p>\n

Ten Sox games will be simulcasted on CHSN and The U (WCIU) this season.<\/p>\n

The games are: May 8 vs. Mariners (6:40 p.m.), May 15 vs. Cubs (6:40 p.m.), May 16 vs. Cubs (6:10 p.m.), May 17 vs. Cubs (1:10 p.m.), June 14 vs. Dodgers (1:10 p.m.), June 27 vs. Royals (3:10 p.m.), July 10 vs. Athletics (6:40 p.m.), July 29 vs. Yankees (6:40 p.m.), Aug. 17 at Cubs (7:05 p.m.) and Sept. 4 vs. Twins (6:40 p.m.).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GLENDALE, Ariz. \u2014 Doubles were a specialty for Miguel Vargas last season. He has carried that over to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2379],"tags":[63676,5,138,49,2561,58336,61347,22933,4154,4,151,396,2562,998],"class_list":["post-632387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-white-sox","tag-alexander-alberto","tag-baseball","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-white-sox","tag-chicagowhitesox","tag-derek-shomon","tag-jedixson-paez","tag-joel-mckeithan","tag-miguel-vargas","tag-mlb","tag-spring-training","tag-white-sox","tag-whitesox","tag-will-venable"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116257952751402355","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}