Miguel Vargas doesn’t consider himself a home run hitter.
Still, the third baseman has been displaying an ability to hit the ball out of the park. He did it twice Saturday, helping the Chicago White Sox to a 6-1 victory against the Seattle Mariners in front of 25,438 at Rate Field.
“I just want to be a good hitter out there,” Vargas said. “I want to swing at strikes and hit the ball as hard as I can. Whatever happens, whatever the result, is out of my hands.”
Vargas hit a two-run home run in the third inning against Mariners starter Luis Castillo. He added a solo home run in the fifth against reliever Josh Simpson. The Sox finished with three home runs in the game, with Colson Montgomery hitting a two-run blast in the first inning.
Sox starter Anthony Kay allowed one unearned run on three hits with five strikeouts and two walks in five innings for the win .The Sox snapped a three-game losing streak.
Vargas led the way, recording his second career multihomer game. He also accomplished the feat on May 16, 2025, when he hit two against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
“With Vargas, you saw it last year where there was definitely power, and the thing that’s been consistent with him is just making good swing decisions,” manager Will Venable said. “When he’s able to just be consistent with his swing and continuing to get good swings off on pitches that you know he’s going to make good decisions on, he puts himself in a good spot to tap into that power.”
Vargas is third on the team with nine home runs, trailing Munetaka Murakami (15, tied for the major-league lead) and Montgomery (10).
“It’s fun to watch those guys hitting homers, and definitely everyone wants to be part of it and contribute to that,” Vargas said.
Vargas is second on the team with 28 walks; Murakami has 29. Vargas is seventh in the American League in walks.
“You think about our team identity and the impact that he has on that with the way he runs the bases and prepares and goes out there and hits well,” Venable said, “he does all the things that we ask him to do and does it with intensity and at a high level. He’s a huge part of that and really sets the expectation and the bar for everyone in our group.”
After going 2-for-3 with a walk Saturday, Vargas has a .228/.369/.471 slash line with the nine home runs, 21 RBIs, 28 runs and six stolen bases.
“I’ve been feeling all right (at the plate),” Vargas told the Tribune on Wednesday. “I’m at a good place, I like where my approach is at. For me, some nights you’re not going to get the results you want. But definitely, I feel good when I follow my approach and I commit to it.
“That’s all I can control about the game. The game is hard. As a group, we’re in a good spot, for sure.”
As a team, the Sox were tied for third in the AL in home runs (50) and sixth in walks (153).
“The thing I love about it is we’re fighting from one to nine,” Vargas said Wednesday. “Every guy has a game plan and they follow that game plan.”
Vargas said “100%” in agreement when asked of Murakami’s impact in lengthening the lineup. The two have been part of hitting back to back home runs — once as part of three in a row along with Montgomery — three times this season.
“When you trust the guy behind you every time, every night, it’s great for everyone here,” Vargas said.
Vargas also continues to see the progress of teammates such as fellow infielders Montgomery and Chase Meidroth, who were called up from the minors last year and are experiencing their first full major-league season in 2026.
“They’ve been doing a great job,” Vargas said. “Their addition in this lineup has been great for us. … They want to be part of the group, they want to contribute to the team and win games. And that’s what we want in the clubhouse.”
Vargas wanted to make improvements defensively, and he is excited that the work during spring training is showing early in the season.
“As a group, we’ve been doing a great job on defense,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of close games, and I want to be a part of it. I saw everybody dive for the ball, everybody making plays and I want to be part of it. When you’ve got tight games, and you’ve got the energy, that’s all we want.
“I want to be out there for the pitcher, I want to make some plays and be out there for the boys too.”
Vargas said in general the energy in the clubhouse has been “unbelievable.”
“We can feel everybody together, everybody’s trying to win,” Vargas said. “That’s a great thing to have in the clubhouse. We can see the results that come from that energy.”
Injury update
White Sox designated hitter Andrew Benintendi was scratched from the lineup Saturday with neck stiffness.
“Just woke up with a sore neck,” Venable said. “So just day to day.”
