2020 was supposed to be an exciting year for Andrew Vaughn. Back in February, he was invited to spring training for the first time in his young career, which gave him an opportunity to be around players and coaches who have plenty of MLB experience under their belts. Additionally, Vaughn was slated to head to Birmingham and play in the Southern League to start the season.
However, with the Coronavirus pandemic sweeping the nation, things will be much different for Vaughn this year.
Before spring training was shutdown, Vaughn was showing flashes of why he was worthy of being the third overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. Through 13 games of Cactus League action, Vaughn slashed .304/.488/.522 with two doubles, one home run, five RBIs, five walks and four strikeouts. Even though that’s a very small sample size, the numbers are impressive for someone who hasn’t played above High-A and was going up against major league talent or guys that are close to the majors.
After weeks of being away from baseball, Vaughn and the rest of the guys have made their way to Guaranteed Rate Field for Summer Camp. This will be an adjustment for everyone. They have just a few weeks in between workouts and intrasquad games before the 60-game season gets underway. For Vaughn, however, there’s even more adjustments that he’s getting used to.
At Cal and during his first season of professional baseball, Andrew Vaughn has been a first baseman. That’s what the White Sox drafted him to be and he seems set to take over for Jose Abreu, who will slide into more of a DH role as he gets older. During the early goings of Summer Camp, the White Sox have experimented with giving Vaughn some reps at third base.
The move was likely due to Yoan Moncada being out and Cheslor Cuthbert being delayed in joining the team for camp. Both can play third base. Their absences meant the White Sox had fewer options at third. Even after Cuthbert joined scrimmages on Saturday, Vaughn has split time between first and third. Leury Garcia, Danny Mendick, Nicky Delmonico and even Yermin Mercedes have played third this week.
If the White Sox are seriously considering a position change, this would be the first time Vaughn would play somewhere other than first base since his high school days. While a permanent position change for Vaughn would be fairly surprising, he seems to be up for the challenge. On Monday, he met with the media where he mentioned being all in on whatever the White Sox want him to do.
It’s always a positive to see someone being so open to doing whatever the team feels is best. Vaughn also mentioned to the media that while he’s seeing time at a different position, he’s still able to work on things that will benefit him no matter where he slots in defensively.
At the plate in Summer Camp, Vaughn is showing that the down period didn’t slow him down. So far, he’s continuing to show a mature plate approach where he’s frequently working into deep counts and waiting for his pitch. He’s gone deep once and has put together some very productive at-bats. On Wednesday, he faced off against Dallas Keuchel and was one of the few players that made solid contact off him. Vaughn didn’t record a hit, but he gave a ball a ride to deep center field for a fly out.
Vaughn also had an opportunity to face Lucas Giolito, and he went to battle with a two-strike count. He fought off a lot of close pitches and didn’t look like a hitter that is only one year removed from college baseball. Giolito told the media after his outing that Vaughn (and Madrigal) are a “pain in my ass” when talking about trying to get them out.
Even though there won’t be a minor league season in 2020, Summer Camp has been a beneficial experience for Vaughn. He’s been able to get more time around guys like Jose Abreu, Yasmani Grandal and Edwin Encarnacion in a more intimate setting after that experience was cut short initially during spring training. With the clubhouse and guys in camp being smaller than spring training, this gives Vaughn more of a direct chance to work with and pick the brains of these players and coaches.
Except for a couple defensive miscues, he’s been impressive and has held his ground. While it definitely seems like a long shot for Vaughn to break camp with the team or even make his MLB debut this year, he’s been able to develop rapport and learn from the guys that he will be taking the field with eventually when his time comes.
Once the regular season starts, expect Vaughn to join the taxi squad at Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg. That will allow him to continue to get work and reps in. While 2020 is a lost season for a lot of prospects, the time Vaughn has been able to spend around the big leaguers will be valuable and he seems to be absorbing it all.
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