Will Venable gambling on late-season lineup change with Miguel Vargas

Chicago White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Will Venable gambling on late-season lineup change with Miguel Vargas

By Alan Rubenstein | Last updated Sep 22, 2026 6:32 PM ET

Chicago White Sox manager Will Venable made a late-season lineup change, moving third baseman Miguel Vargas to leadoff for the second time in the last four games.

Vargas, the White Sox's best player in 2026, leads the team in several categories, including home runs, runs batted in, runs scored and stolen bases.

Batting leadoff in 2026, Vargas has a .209 batting average, .294 on-base percentage, .512 slugging percentage and .806 on-base percentage plus slugging, with four home runs and 13 runs batted in in 11 games with 51 plate appearances.

White Sox leadoff hitters are batting .270/.349/.452 with an .801 OPS, 24 HRs, 79 RBI and 22 stolen bases in 2026. Second baseman Chase Meidroth has been the primary leadoff hitter for the 2026 White Sox. Meidroth is batting .287/.364/.506 with an .870 OPS, eight HRs and 18 RBI as the leadoff batter.

White Sox leadoff hitters are fifth in MLB in batting average, ninth in on-base and slugging percentage, seventh in OPS, 13th in HRs, 11th in RBI and third in runs scored in 2026. Vargas is not the traditional leadoff hitter with his power, but the speed the 2026 All-Star provides is an asset.

How the Sox line up in KC

Coverage begins at 6pm: https://t.co/fVB18BuHOn pic.twitter.com/bTJb1hBZFx
— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) September 22, 2026

Miguel Vargas against Kansas City Royals in 2026

Entering their final 2026 road series at Kansas City, Vargas is batting .313/.450/.563 with a 1.013 OPS, two HRs and eight RBI over nine games in 40 plate appearances against the Royals this season. Getting Vargas more at-bats at the top of the order overall should help the White Sox.

One negative is that Vargas is not in the middle of the order as the White Sox's leader in RBI. Munetaka Murakami will have to be the White Sox's best run producer with Vargas at the top of the order. Colson Montgomery, second on the White Sox in RBI, has been dropped to eighth in the order.

Late-season pickups Tommy Pham and Randall Grichuk, plus the return of catcher Kyle Teel from injury, are other players that Venables is counting on in the middle of the White Sox order to be run producers in the final week of the regular season.

Alan Rubenstein

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