Kennys Vargas Gautier (born August 1, 1990), nicknamed "Gorilla", is a Puerto Rican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

for the

Acereros de Monclova The Acereros de Monclova (English: Monclova Steelers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports l ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

and in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB) for the

Chiba Lotte Marines The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based in Chiba, Chiba, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, in the Kantō region, and owned by Lotte Holdings, Lotte Holdings Co., Ltd. The Marines were a founding member of the Pacific Le ...

. Vargas has been compared to

David Ortiz David Américo Ortiz Arias (born November 18, 1975), nicknamed "Big Papi", is a Dominican Americans, Dominican-American former professional baseball designated hitter and first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1997 ...

due to their similarities in size. Vargas stands tall and weighs about 275 pounds.

Early life

Vargas was born in the municipality of Canóvanas, already being larger than the average local population with a length of 22 and a half inches and a weight of ten pounds. He was raised by his mother, teacher Elsa Gautier, who was divorced by the time that he was three years old and was left in charge of all his sustenance. During his youth, the family lived near a baseball park, where he joined his brother Jeronys and learned the game by the time that he was four. After beginning in the district of

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Flo ...

, Vargas continued playing in his native Canóvanas. Due to his size, he also played basketball during his school years, but at the urging of his mother (who saw potential for him to go professional) he selected baseball. In the process, Vargas declined an invitation to a major high school basketball tournament in 10th grade. Now invested in developing as a baseball player, he requested a trip to watch the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

play for his 15th birthday. After going undrafted in the 2008 Major League Baseball draft, Vargas decided to enroll in an independent baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, where he spent the following months until the

invited him to an evaluation. In February 2009, the organization signed him as an amateur free agent with a signing bonus that neared $100,000.

Career

Minnesota Twins

Vargas made his professional debut in 2009 with the

Gulf Coast Twins The Florida Complex League Twins are the Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays in Fort Myers, Florida, at the Lee County Sports Complex. Prior to 2021, the ...

. He also played for the Gulf Coast Twins in 2010. Vargas played the 2011 season with the

Elizabethton Twins The Elizabethton Twins were a Minor League Baseball team of the Appalachian League and a Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They were located in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and were named for their Major League Baseball, major league aff ...

. He was hitting .322/.377/.489 with six

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

over 44 games, when he was suspended 50 games for a violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. After his suspension was over in 2012 he played for the

Beloit Snappers The Beloit Sky Carp are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Beloit, Wisconsin, and play their home games at ABC Supply Stadium. They previously played at Harry C ...

. In 41 games he had 11 home runs and a 1.030

on-base plus slugging On-base plus slugging (OPS) is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player both to get on base and to hit for power, two important offensive skills, are ...

(OPS). Vargas played for the

Fort Myers Miracle The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Fort Myers, Florida, and play their home games at the Lee County Sports Complex at ...

in 2013. In 125 games he hit 19 home runs. He was added to the Twins 40-man roster on November 20, 2013. Vargas started the 2014 season with the Double-A

New Britain Rock Cats The New Britain Rock Cats were a minor league baseball team that competed in the Eastern League (1938–2020), Eastern League. They were the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox for 12 years, the Minnesota Twins for 20 years and the Colorado ...

. In July he played in the

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League- ...

. Vargas made his MLB debut on August 1, 2014, and hit his first career

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

off

Jesse Hahn Jesse Allen Hahn (born July 30, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Seattle Mariners organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Oakland Athletics, and Kansas City Royals. ...

five days later, on August 6, leading the Twins to a 3–1 victory over the

Padres {{About, the Roman Catholic priests' organization, other uses, Padres (disambiguation) ''Padres Asociados para Derechos Religiosos, Educativos, y Sociales'' ( Spanish for "Priests Associated for Religious, Education, and Social Rights") is a Chica ...

. Vargas wound up finishing the season as the Twins designated hitter, hitting 9 home runs with 38 rbi's in 53 games. In the 2015 season, Vargas began the season as the Twins designated hitter although he was sent down a month later after a poor start. He was called up later in the season. Vargas finished his 2015 season with a .240 AVG in 58 games. Vargas was named the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

's Player of the Week for the week of July 4 to July 10, 2016. After excelling at the Triple–A level, Vargas was given another shot for extended playing time for the Twins. He split time between designated hitter and first base. He finished with a .230 AVG in 47 games with 10 home runs. In 2017, Vargas started the season in Triple A, but was once again called up at the end of April. In the offseason he trained alongside former major League players Carlos Delgado, José ‘Tony’ Valentín, and Manny Ramírez. He also played again with the

Indios de Mayagüez The Indios de Mayagüez (Mayagüez Indians) are a baseball team in Puerto Rico's Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League, in Spanish). Based in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, the ''Indios' ...

in the

Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente The Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League (Spanish: Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente, abbreviation LBPRC) is the main professional baseball league in Puerto Rico; it is colloquially referred to as the Puerto Rican Winter le ...

, Puerto Rico's baseball professional league. On March 16, 2018, Vargas was designated for assignment by the Twins. On March 22, Vargas was claimed off waivers by the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

. On March 24, the Twins re-acquired Vargas by claiming him off waivers from the Reds, without Vargas appearing in an MLB game with the Reds. He was outrighted to Triple-A Rochester to start the 2018 season. Vargas elected free agency on November 2, 2018.

Chiba Lotte Marines

On November 6, 2018, Vargas signed with the

(NPB). Vargas hit .179/.324/.274 with 1 home run and 6 RBI for the Marines in 2019. On November 30, 2019, the Marines announced that the team would not sign Vargas for the 2020 season. Two days later, he became a free agent.

Detroit Tigers

On January 27, 2020, Vargas signed a minor league contract with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Vargas was released by the Tigers organization on July 7.

Saraperos de Saltillo

On March 6, 2021, Vargas signed with the

Saraperos de Saltillo The Saraperos de Saltillo (English: Saltillo Serapes) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League. Their home ballpark is the Estadio de Béisbol Francisco I. Madero in Saltillo, Coahuila. They have won three championships (1980, 2009 ...

of the

. In 66 games for Saltillo, he batted .310/.418/.603 with 18 home runs and 54 RBI. Vargas was released on February 10, 2022.

Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos

On February 15, 2022, Vargas signed with the

Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos The Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos (English: Two Laredos Owls), formerly known as the Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo (English: Nuevo Laredo Owls), are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League. The Tecolotes are a binational baseball team, spli ...

of the

. Vargas appeared in 85 games for Dos Laredos in 2022, slashing .324/.462/.566 with 17 home runs and 65 RBI. In 2023, Vargas appeared in 30 games, batting .270/.356/.461 with five home runs and 15 RBI.

Mariachis de Guadalajara

On June 5, 2023, Vargas was traded to the

Mariachis de Guadalajara The Mariachis de Guadalajara ( English: Guadalajara Mariachis) were a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Zapopan, Jalisco, in the Guadalajara metropolitan area. Their home ballpark was the Estadio Panamericano, with a capaci ...

of the

. In 50 games for Guadalajara, Vargas batted .297/.367/.550 with 11 home runs and 32 RBI.

Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos (second stint)

On December 21, 2023, Vargas signed with the

of the

. In 88 appearances for Dos Laredos in 2024, he slashed .316/.416/.517 with 15 home runs and 80 RBI. Vargas was released by the Tecolotes on April 16, 2025.

Acereros de Monclova

On May 3, 2025, Vargas signed with the

of the

International career

Vargas played for the

Puerto Rico national baseball team The Puerto Rico national baseball team (), also known as Team Rubio is the national baseball team of Puerto Rico. The men's senior team is ranked 9th in the world . Puerto Rico is the incumbent Pan American and Central American/Caribbean champ ...

in the

2017 World Baseball Classic The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts wer ...

where he won a silver medal.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Kennys 1990 births Living people Acereros de Monclova players Águilas de Mexicali players Beloit Snappers players Chiba Lotte Marines players Elizabethton Twins players Fort Myers Miracle players Gulf Coast Twins players Indios de Mayagüez players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Mariachis de Guadalajara players Minnesota Twins players New Britain Rock Cats players Nippon Professional Baseball designated hitters People from Canóvanas, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Japan Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in Mexico Rochester Red Wings players Saraperos de Saltillo players Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos players 2017 World Baseball Classic players