Miguel Vargas’ nose dive prompts Dodgers to start Mookie Betts in the infield

Mookie Betts made his fourth consecutive start in the Dodgers’ infield Friday night, but not because he entered the game against the Angels with a .316 average (36 for 114) and 1.042 on-base-plus-slugging percentage in 30 games at second base and shortstop and a .243 average (51 for 210) and .864 OPS in 53 games in right field.

It’s because rookie second baseman Miguel Vargas has been in a month-long nose dive at the plate that has not only cost him playing time but could warrant a demotion to triple-A Oklahoma City, where Vargas could work to regain the stroke and confidence that made him the organization’s best pure hitting prospect entering this season.

“I think everything should be on the table, I really do,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the game at Chavez Ravine. “There’s a piece of winning here, and there’s also a piece of putting his mind where it needs to be, because clearly right now, he’s pressing. He’s never struggled like this.

“So if it does come to that … it’s always healthy to have that conversation with young players who are struggling. It would be for the benefit of him, shorter and long-term, but right now, he’s here and he’s gonna play [Saturday night].”

Vargas used his gap-to-gap power to hit .313 with an .878 OPS, 49 homers and 265 RBIs in 410 minor league games, and the Dodgers were so confident his bat would play in the big leagues that they moved him to second base, a position where he made only 27 minor league starts, over the winter.

But Vargas, 23, has shown only glimpses of the hitter he was in the minors. He’s batting .197 with a .670 OPS, seven homers, 15 doubles, four triples and 32 RBIs in 79 games, and has looked overmatched for most of the past month, batting .082 (five for 61) with a .375 OPS, three extra-base hits and four RBis in 21 games since June 9.

And one of those hits was a gift double that Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder Jack Suwinski lost in the early evening twilight sky in the fifth inning Thursday night.

“Wins are always important, and there comes a point where we’ve got to run out our best options out there to win a baseball game,” Roberts said. “So I think that having that optionality to have Mookie in the dirt, to pick matchups for Miguel Vargas, is smart. He’s grinding. He’s playing hard, but it’s just not happening. Sometimes it’s beneficial to sit back, take a respite and watch a game.”

Dodgers designated hitter J.D. Martinez watches his second inning home run soar off as Angels starting pitcher Griffin Canning looks on at Dodger Stadium Friday.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

If the Dodgers do demote Vargas, they could recall left-handed-hitting infielder Michael Busch, who is batting .320 with a 1.023 OPS, 10 homers and 47 RBIs in 52 games at Oklahoma City, and give switch-hitting infielder Yonny Hernandez some starts at second base. And, of course, Betts would play more games in the infield.

“I do believe the defense is getting better, and the experience of being at the major league level is helpful,” Roberts said of Vargas. “But it’s also helpful to feel yourself getting some hits and getting your confidence going.

“I do think [he adds to the team], but at what point do you decide that it could be detrimental? I don’t know the answer right now, but having a conversation is in his best interest and is healthy.”

Rehab report

Dodgers starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard (43) throws during a against the Reds in Cincinnati on June 7.

(Jeff Dean / Associated Press)

Noah Syndergaard, who has been on the injured list for a month because of a blister on his right index finger and a bruised ERA — he went 1-4 with a 7.16 ERA in his first 12 starts after signing a one-year, $13-million deal last winter — threw to hitters in a three-inning simulated game Friday afternoon.

Roberts called the workout, in which Syndergaard hit 93-94 mph with his fastball, “a step in the right direction,” and said the 30-year-old right-hander would begin what is expected to be a lengthy rehabilitation stint with Oklahoma City in the next week or so.

“How long [the rehab stint] lasts,” Roberts said, “is contingent on health and performance.”

Though the blister sent Syndergaard to the IL, the former All-Star was in desperate need of a mental and physical reset after he failed to regain any velocity on a fastball that once approached triple digits and struggled to find enough effective secondary pitches to remain competitive.

What will Syndergaard have to show the Dodgers, who have seen all five pitchers from their opening-day rotation visit the IL this season, to prove that he can help them down the stretch?

“I don’t know,” Roberts said. “It’s hard because there were times when the velocity ticked up but the quality of contact against wasn’t good. And there were other times where the velocity wasn’t there, and the secondary pitches were considerably better.

“I think it’s going to be health, No. 1, and then we’ve got to make a call [on whether] the stuff plays at the major league level to the standards that he set for himself and we have for him.”