Andrew Vaughn's Hot Start Fades as All-Star Break Arrives

Over a 27-game stretch through June 10, Andrew Vaughn was the Milwaukee Brewers’ hottest hitter. Vaughn batted .393 during that span, with a sparkling .446 on-base percentage. The Brewers were 18-9 and firmly atop the NL Central.

Vaughn was productive enough you wondered if he might contend for a place on the NL’s All-Star Game roster.

Well, the mid-summer event will be played Tuesday at Philadelphia and Vaughn figures to be back home in Arizona for the break.

Since peaking at .370, the Cal graduate has cooled over the past month, hitting just .214 in 26 games.

Hitless in nine at-bats over the past week, Vaughn has seen his average slip to a still-solid .311 for the season, but with just two home runs and 24 RBIs in 55 games. He missed five weeks after fracturing a bone in his hand in the season opener.

Andrew Vaughn | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Vaughn has been used primarily this season in a platoon role vs. left-handed pitchers, against whom he is batting .393 (24 for 61), compared with .253 (22 for 98) vs. right-handers. Thirteen of his 18 extra-base hits has come against southpaws.

Still just 28 years old, Vaughn may yet earn an All-Star nod at some point. His career was resurrected last June 13 when the White Sox traded him to the Brewers. In 119 games since, Vaughn has batted .309.

Vaughn was the No. 3 pick in the 2019 MLB draft, and the two players chosen before him — catcher Adley Rutschman and shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. — are both making their third All-Star appearances on Tuesday.

Being chosen No. 3, of course, offers no guarantee of big league stardom. The MLB draft is much more of a crapshoot than either the NFL or NBA drafts, even at the top.

Over the past half-century, the most successful No. 3 selection, without question, was Paul Molitor, chosen by the Brewers back in 1977. Molitor went on to a Hall of Fame career, collecting seven All-Star appearances along with more than 3,000 hits.

Among other No. 3 picks, Matt Williams (1986) was a five-time All-Star and Manny Machado (2010) was selected seven times and was a top-5 MVP finisher four times. But even he is batting just .203 this season with the San Diego Padres.

Pitcher Max Meyer (2020) has earned his first All-Star spot this season, thanks to a 9-1 win-loss record and 2.58 ERA with the Marlins.

But not all All-Star seasons are created equal. Pitcher MacKenzie Gore (2017) was an All-Star with the Washington Nationals last season, when he was 5-15 and led the league in wild pitches.

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