LOS ANGELES The Los Angeles Dodgers’ anticipated fresh start was beginning to appear to be a bust. Well, until Miguel Vargas flaunted his arm, that is.
After the All-Star break, the Dodgers looked like a club in need of something, as they were idle after seven innings and only six outs away from being shut out. It was supposed to be a relief to get a few days off. Rather, it seemed as though the break continued into Friday’s game against the Boston Red Sox.
However, Vargas saw Tyler O’Neill trotting slowly back to first base after Rafael Devers hit a shallow fly ball to him in left.
“Maybe I got him,” Vargas thought to himself. In his brief time as a major-league left-fielder, he has rarely thought of trying to turn that kind of double play. This time, he did. Almost flat-footed, Vargas whipped in the throw.
He was hit by it, finishing the inning and setting off the subsequent explosion with a leadoff walk at the plate. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Dodgers loaded the bases, setting the stage for Freddie Freeman’s game-winning grand slam. A 4-1 victory was much more motivating.
“I think the crowd was waiting for something to happen,” Freeman said. “I think that’s why Vargy throwing that guy out kind of helped.”
It was needed.
¡Miguel con el tiro a primera y consigue los dos outs! pic.twitter.com/O6cpHhA31U
— Los Dodgers (@LosDodgers) July 20, 2024
“Obviously last week going into the All-Star break was not ideal,” Freeman said.
The Dodgers were having a terrible game as the half-time approached. They have played like a.500 team for the previous two months, having lost six of their previous seven games. Their offense was erratic, their pitching was in ruins, and their lapses were numerous and excruciating.
In the seventh inning, Vargas took advantage of one of those errors. The Cuban prospect, up here for his bat after flirtations at third base and second base before relocating to left field, glided into the gap as Dominic Smith lofted a fly ball at it. As Andy Pages waved him off from center field and then called him off, his gaze stayed fixed on the ball. Vargas extended his glove without hearing him. It was determined that the ball squirted out for a double. Three hitters later, Alex Vesia emerged from the frame unscathed, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts sat with his young left fielder. Vargas’ relative inexperience at the role was emphasized by him, and he was reassured and reminded of the finer teaching elements of the
“I wanted to make sure that we keep that confidence and (he) doesn’t start to get some anxiousness when he’s out in left field,” Roberts said.
“We still had a game going on,” Vargas said, “so I’m trying to keep my focus on the next ball.”
Vargas’s public shows of confidence contributed to his ascent to popularity as a Dodgers prospect. In his major league debut, he stole third base and said he did so because he thought no one could stop him. He has not had many noteworthy opportunities to display such skill subsequently, whether it is because to injuries, a lack of playing time, or the multiple position changes. His bat has been with him when they have arrived. Not at this moment.
An inning later, Vargas produced the best defensive play of his outfield career.
As Vargas led off the next inning and walked off reliever Zack Kelly with eight pitches, he was barely able to hide his smile. When Shohei Ohtani’s fly ball bounced into the seats for an automatic double, he was unable to stop himself from scoring. Following Red Sox manager Alex Cora’s “choose your poison” decision to intentionally walk Will Smith, Vargas sprang through the air as Freeman drove Brennan Bernardino’s 0-1 slider into the Boston bullpen, according to Roberts.
Freeman got the curtain call. But “it started with Vargy,” Roberts said.
It was a moment of encouragement. Momentous occasions like this seem to have greater significance as time grows closer to the July 30 trade deadline. Roberts concurred with the notion that the Dodgers must make improvements on Friday afternoon. It is still unclear how that looks.
Even with their obvious roster shortcomings and vulnerabilities, the Dodgers still have some of the best top-tier talent in the game, which is why their attitude over the past two months has been so optimistic. That will help the Dodgers win games and guarantee their spot in October.
That gives one reason for confidence. But in order to prosper there and beyond, they must address the obvious problems that initially put them in this rut. It will include filling the void in the most elite roster in baseball. Vargas, a young and talented player who is only 24 years old, offers a viable option for a roster that might be drastically altered after the deadline.
(Top photo of Miguel Vargas, Will Smith and Shohei Ohtani congratulating Freddie Freeman on his grand slam: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA Today)
