A dream rerouted: Tigers giving Kennys Vargas a shot to reset his career

Fort Myers, Fla. — They called him "Gorilla" and when he made his debut with the Twins at the end of the 2014 season, hitting nine home runs and driving in 38 runs in 58 games, he drew comparisons to a young David Ortiz.

He still holds most of the Twins' Statcast-era home run records (longest home run, hardest hit home run, etc). 

But baseball has a cruel way of rerouting dreams.

Six years later, Kennys Vargas was back at the Twins spring training facility in Fort Myers, no longer a slugging prospect but as one of seven extra players the Tigers invited over from minor-league mini-camp.

“I just wanted a job,” said Vargas, who signed a minor-league deal with the Tigers with no invite to big-league camp. “I just went where the jobs were, you know? I went to Japan last year and I didn’t really like it there.

“So I came back and the Tigers gave me an opportunity. I’ve just been working hard in the offseason to take advantage of it.”

It’s been one of the odd sights of spring, watching the 29-year-old Vargas, still every bit the "Gorilla" (6-5, 290), running from drill to drill with a group of wide-eyed players in their early 20s. But after what he’s gone through the last two years, he’s just grateful for the chance to reset his career.

Vargas spent the entire 2018 season with the Twins’ Triple-A team in Rochester. And despite putting up good numbers — 21 home runs and 73 RBIs — he never was summoned to the big leagues. So, when Chiba Lotte of the Japenese Eastern Professional League called, offering twice the money he would make in another Triple-A season, he packed up and flew to the other side of the world.

It did not go well.

“The lifestyle, yeah, but they train a lot, too,” he said. “And for a big guy it’s hard. They are really good people over there, but I just couldn’t get used to it. It’s not for everybody.”

Vargas also couldn’t get used to the pitching in Japan — low-velocity, insane array of change-ups and breaking balls. He ended up hitting .233 with six home runs in 89 games.

“It was really different,” he said. “I had to change my hitting mechanics in Japan, then come back to the United States and learn how to hit here again. I worked hard in the offseason, playing winter ball in Puerto Rico so I could readjust to the fastball velocity again.”

Vargas had a big winter, slashing .272/.434/.505 with a .939 OPS in 136 games in Puerto Rico.   

“My swing feels good again,” he said. “So we will see what happens. I am just thankful for this opportunity to get a job.”

He walked and grounded out in two plate appearances Tuesday in the Tigers' 5-1 loss to the Twins. It was his third Grapefruit League game. He's walked twice with three strikeouts in his six plate appearances.

“It’s really cool to be back here,” he said. “I still talk to my old teammates that are still here.”

Game bits 

Tigers second base prospect Kody Clemens, invited over from minor-league camp, hit an opposite-field home run to left in the seventh inning off reliever Sean Poppen.

… Third base prospect Isaac Paredes, making his spring debut, struck out on three pitches in his first at-bat and grounded out his second time up. He’d missed the last two weeks with a shoulder issue.

… The Twins' Marwin Gonzalez, besides his two-run double off starter Dario Agrazal, also hit a solo home run off a hanging slide-curve hybrid from reliever David McKay.

… The Twins' Miguel Sano greeted reliever Kyle Funkhouser with a long home run to the back of the bleachers in right-center field.  

On the back fields 

Jordan Zimmermann was the scheduled starter Tuesday, but he got the veteran's privilege of skipping the two-and-a-half hour bus trip and doing his work in a simulated game on the back fields at Joker Marchant Stadium. 

"Nothing really noteworthy," he said "I got my pitches in and my body as feeling good."

He threw 45 pitches over four innings and expects to ramp it up to 65-70 in his next start. Truth be told, Zimmermann prefers simulated games this early in camp. 

"If you're a little out of whack, you can talk to the pitching coach rather than try to figure out things on the fly,' he said. "In a game, it might cost you six runs before you get out of the inning."

Around the horn

Former Tigers catcher Alex Avila, now with the Twins, was not at the park Tuesday. He was given a veteran's day off. 

... Former Tigers' reliever Blaine Hardy, who signed a minor-league deal with the Twins, has thrown one scoreless inning so far this spring. He was not scheduled to pitch against the Tigers. 

... Miguel Cabrera made the trip to Fort Myers and went 0-for-2. He is expected to play in the two games at Lakeland on Thursday and Friday. He will not play in the game against the Twins in the Dominican Republic on Saturday, but is expected to play in both games at West Palm Beach on Sunday and Monday. 

... Ivan Nova is scheduled to start against the Red Sox Wednesday. No. 1 prospect Casey Mize is scheduled to start against the Yankees in Lakeland on Thursday. 

chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @cmccosky