CHICAGO – The exciting highs and painful lows associated with baseball, or really any sort of athletic competition, were on display through White Sox first baseman Miguel Vargas during the Yankees’ 10-4 victory Thursday night at Rate Field.
With the Yankees holding a 4-0 lead in the second, two outs and the bases loaded, Vargas connected on a 2-0 sinker from Will Warren for his first career grand slam and his first home run in August. It was another top-notch moment amid this breakout campaign for the affable 25-year-old.
But in the fifth, with Ben Rice on first, Vargas tried to field third baseman Curtis Mead’s one-hop throw on Aaron Judge’s high-hopping grounder. Vargas never got to the ball as his left hand collided with Judge’s left thigh and bent back, leading to him falling to the ground almost immediately and not moving as Rice came all the way around from first to score.
Vargas exited the game, holding his left wrist and apparently in significant pain. He was initially diagnosed with a left wrist contusion, and he will undergo further testing Friday.
“In the moment, I was very scared. It wasn't feeling right. It felt a little better when I got past that moment,” said Vargas, with his left wrist wrapped postgame, feeling the pain in the top of his hand. “It feels a little sore. Hopefully, I'll feel better tomorrow.”
“He goes out there and hits the grand slam to get us right back in the game. The energy's there, everybody's kind of rocking and rolling, pitching staff kind of catches a little bit of a stride,” said White Sox right-hander Davis Martin, who allowed four runs (three earned) over 3 2/3 innings with five strikeouts. “And then, boom. It just kind of takes the wind out of your sails.”
Those White Sox sails have lost quite a bit of wind during this past week. Center fielder Luis Robert Jr. was placed on the 10-day injured list Wednesday with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, and general manager Chris Getz added that the team’s five-tool talent might be out for the remainder of the 2025 campaign.
Shortstop/third baseman Colson Montgomery, who has homered in four straight games and has 14 home runs and 37 RBIs in 43 games since joining the White Sox from Triple-A Charlotte on July 4, missed his second straight game Thursday with an injury that Montgomery described as being treated like a left oblique.
Montgomery's hope is for a quick return, but the White Sox certainly won’t rush one of their top young players after he dealt with this same issue last week in Atlanta.
“Yeah, I want to be out there every single night,” Montgomery said. “But you have these conversations when you feel like it’s taking away from what you can do and produce, so [we’re] going to have to be smart. I want to be out there with these guys and play at the highest level, so it’s been tough.
“Just little tweaks here and there … swinging and throwing. But each day so far it’s improved, gotten less and less. It’s looking good right now. … It’s responding well, feeling good, and should be out there soon.”
So what’s next for the White Sox (48-86)?
A move of Vargas to the injured list seems likely, although not certain as of Thursday’s postgame, with first baseman Tim Elkow a power-packed candidate to move from Charlotte. Even at this level of short-handedness, the White Sox will try to end a three-game losing streak on Friday facing Carlos Rodón, who will be making his first career start at Rate Field as part of the opposition after making 116 starts out of 121 appearances over seven seasons with the White Sox.
Rookie catcher Kyle Teel, who had two hits Thursday to raise his average to .300, will be counted on to lead the way with six multihit efforts in his past nine games. But losing Vargas is a brutally tough subtraction, especially with the way he has turned his game around following an extremely rough start with the White Sox in 2024.
“He's one of our main guys that really sets the tone for the group. He's a performer,” White Sox manager Will Venable said of Vargas. “He goes out there and competes and plays hard. And along the lines of these other guys that are contributors out there, we're going to miss having him, and hopefully it's not for too long."
"I wasn't expecting to get that contact with [Judge],” said Vargas of the play at first. “I was trying to make the out, no matter what. It's baseball, I guess. I was feeling good, having a good moment for a little bit. But it doesn't matter anymore."