Cincinnati Reds Top Prospects: 2B Hector Vargas

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Hector Vargas began his season on June 18th with the Billings Mustangs. After going 2-4 on that first day, the season got out to a slow start. In the first week the infielder would hit just .188, going 3-16 with a triple. The second week didn’t go any better as he would go 3-17 (.176) with a walk.

July got out to a much better start for the 20-year-old as he would hit .353 in the first week of July without a strikeout. The second week was more of the same as he went 6-16 (.375) with just one strikeout, but he hadn’t yet walked on the month. The third week of July was a struggle, though he managed just 12 plate appearances and hit .100 (1-10). After a brief struggle the final eight games were more of the same for July as Vargas blew up, going 10-28 (.357) with five doubles, a triple and a home run. For the month he would hit .324/.329/.479 in 74 plate appearances to go with a walk and five strikeouts.

August got out to a slow start, but more so because Hector Vargas only played in two games over the first week of the month, going 1-9. The second week saw just three games played, going 3-10 with two steals. Playing time picked up in the third week and he returned to hot hitting, going 7-22 (.318) with just one strikeout. The final week of August saw the Dominican Republic native finish strong by going 10-29 (.345) with a double and a triple. The hot finish in August carried into the final week of the season for Vargas who went 5-12 with a double and two triples. Over the final five weeks of the season he would hit .317/.326/.427 with a walk and five strikeouts in 88 plate appearances.

Hector Vargas Scouting Report

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Hitting | He shows a potentially above-average hit tool with the ability to use the entire field.

Power | There’s not much power presently, and there’s not much in the future, but 5-10 home runs isn’t out of the question for his future.

Running | He’s got above-average speed.

Throwing | Vargas has an average arm.

Defense | While he’s spent time at second, third and shortstop, second base is his best fit where his range plays well and his arm is an asset.

At the plate, Hector Vargas makes contact at a very high rate. He has struck out just just 9.5% of the time he’s stepped to the plate over the last two seasons. Along with that though comes a very low walk rate, as he’s walked just eight times over the last two seasons in 359 plate appearances. That must improve. Defensively he’s got to work on both his glove and his throwing accuracy, but he should fit in well at second base and can fill in at third or shortstop at times if needed.

Spray Chart

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