The Cuban Miguel Vargas, third baseman for the Chicago White Sox, won his second Player of the Week award in the American League this Monday, according to the official announcement from MLB, with both awards received in the same 2026 season.
The 26-year-old from Havana recorded an outstanding week between September 14 and 20: eight hits in 23 at-bats (.348), three home runs, nine RBIs, one double, and two stolen bases in seven games.
His performance was decisive in the series against the Cleveland Guardians, direct rivals in the Central Division, where he went 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 an outstanding defensive play at third base, contributing to a crucial win for Chicago.
With that momentum, the White Sox won four out of seven games and entered the final seven days of the season just one game behind the Guardians in the race for the division title.
The award comes during a historic season for Vargas: the third baseman has tallied 33 home runs, 31 doubles, 101 runs scored, 88 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases, with a batting average of .251 and an OPS of .844.
These figures made him the third Cuban in Major League history to achieve during 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 a single season.
Vargas's first Player of the Week award in 2026 came in May, when his performance began to hint at 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 to become the third player in Chicago's history to achieve this in that venue.
Son of the legendary Industriales first baseman 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 solidifying in Los Angeles, he was traded to Chicago in July 2024 as part of 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 balances of 41-121 in 2024 —the worst of the modern era— and 60-102 in 2025, and that is now fighting for a place in the postseason.
In total, 32 players born in Cuba have won the MLB Player of the Week award since its inception in 1973, with José Canseco leading historically with seven awards and Yordan Álvarez as the active leader with five.
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