The Cuban Miguel Vargas, third baseman for the Chicago White Sox, earned his second Player of the Week award in the American League this Monday, according to the official announcement from MLB, with both honors received in the same 2026 season.
The 27-year-old from Havana had an outstanding week between September 14 and 20: eight hits in 23 at-bats (.348), three home runs, nine runs batted in, one double, and two stolen bases in seven games.
His performance was crucial in the series against the Cleveland Guardians, direct rivals in the Central Division, where he batted 4 for 11 with a home run and five RBIs.
The highlight of the week came on Saturday against the Detroit Tigers, when he hit a home run, stole a base, and made a notable defensive play at third base, contributing to a key victory for Chicago.
With that momentum, the White Sox won four out of seven games and entered the last seven days of the season just one game behind the Guardians in the race for the division title.
The award comes as part of a historic season for Vargas: the third baseman has recorded 33 home runs, 31 doubles, 101 runs scored, 88 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases, with an average of .251 and an OPS of .844.
Those numbers made him the third Cuban in Major League history to achieve in a single season the combination of 30 or more doubles, 30 or more home runs, 100 or more runs scored, and at least 20 stolen bases.
Only José Canseco —in 1988 and 1991 with Oakland— and Rafael Palmeiro —in 1993 with Texas— had achieved that milestone before among players born on the island.
At the franchise level, Vargas joined Venezuelan Magglio Ordóñez (2001) and Cuban Luis Robert Jr. (2023) as the only hitters in the history of the White Sox with 30 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season.
Vargas's first Player of the Week award in 2026 came in May, when his performance began to foreshadow a breakout season.
In July, he was selected for the All-Star Game for the first time, held at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, where he hit a 433-foot home run, becoming the third player in Chicago's history to achieve this feat in that setting.
Son of the legendary Industriales catcher Lázaro Vargas, the baseball player left Cuba in 2015, signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in September 2017, and made his MLB debut on August 3, 2022.
After not establishing himself in Los Angeles, he was traded to Chicago in July 2024 in a three-team deal, and it is with the White Sox that he has found the prominence he was missing.
The individual resurgence of Vargas coincides with the transformation of a team that recorded a 41-121 record in 2024—the worst of the modern era—and 60-102 in 2025, and which is now fighting for a spot in the postseason.
In total, 32 players born in Cuba have won the MLB Player of the Week award since it was established in 1973, with José Canseco holding the historical record with seven awards and Yordan Álvarez as the active leader with five.
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