Cal Baseball: Andrew Vaughn's Big Moment With the White Sox Is Almost Here
Andrew Vaughn would rather show you what he can do than tell you. But if you ask the former Cal slugger how he feels about his prospects heading into the start of spring training on Monday with the Chicago White Sox, he doesn’t back down from the moment.
“I feel very confident going into this and I’m just ready to go,” he said.
Less than two years removed from his final at-bats with the Golden Bears and deprived of his “sophomore” professional season by the COVID-19 pandemic, Vaughn is nonetheless positioned to not only find a major league roster spot with the White Sox but earn a starting role as designated hitter.
General manager Rick Hahn — who said anything less than a World Series title “would be a disappointment” — made these remarks about Vaughn to the Chicago Tribune this week:
“Andrew Vaughn is very much in the mix to make this club. I know that may strike some people as a little nontraditional, given that he has not had (at-bats) over the course of his career just yet. A lot of things would have been different had there been a minor-league season last year, but one of the most prominent things is ... I don’t think there would have been any question in anyone’s mind that Andrew Vaughn was prepared to contribute at the big-league level over the course of the 2021 season.
“So based on what we’ve seen and know of the kid, he’s very much in this mix and we’ll see what the next six weeks hold. But everyone here who knows Andrew and knows what he’s capable of doing is taking his bid for this club seriously.”
Andrew Vaughn
Photo by Ron Vesely, Chicago White Sox
Vaughn, whose home in Arizona is a 10-minute drive from the club’s Camelback Ranch spring training facility in Glendale, Arizona, is entirely comfortable with the club’s expectations.
“You’ve got to set that as a goal for yourself,” he said. “ You can always hear chit-chat behind you . . . when it comes down to it you’ve just got to go out there in spring training and show what you’ve got and leave it all out there.”
Vaughn, who turns 23 in April, was taken by the White Sox with the third pick of the 2019 major league draft after a sparkling career with the Bears. As a sophomore in 2018, Vaughn batted .402 with 23 home runs, earning Pac-12 Player of the Year and college baseball’s Golden Spikes Award.
He hit .374 with 15 home runs (and far more walks) and 50 RBI in 52 games as a junior in 2019, then turned pro.
Vaughn played at three different levels in the White Sox minor league system that summer and was invited to the big club’s 2020 spring training. Then the pandemic interrupted things and baseball canceled its minor league seasons.
When MLB resumed play in mid-summer after several months of uncertainty, Vaughn and other top White Sox prospects were assembled at an alternative camp in Schaumburg, Ill., for several months of training and intra-squad games.
“It was pretty beneficial, I thought,” he said. “Coming from nothing, being completely shut down to getting to actually do something was a lot better than a lot of us expected. I think I did pretty good.”
Here's more from Vaughn about his experience at the Schaumburg camp:
Baseball agrees. Vaughn is the top-ranked prospect in the White Sox organization according to both MLB.com and Baseball America, checking in at No. 13 and No. 21, respectively, on their lists of top-100 prospects.
The White Sox share that enthusiasm. Here’s what farm director Chris Getz said about Vaughn following his play at Schaumburg:
“Andrew hits the ball from pole to pole, consistently has good, quality at-bats, works deep counts and always squares up pitches. He’s a combination of hitting and power. There wasn’t too much of a focus on things he needed to improve offensively at the alternative site. It was more a focus on facing upper-level quality pitching on a daily basis.
“We moved him around from first base to third base to the outfield to build some athleticism and keep his feet moving. At the end of the day, it’s more about the bat and just finding a home for him.”
It’s unlikely Vaughn will see time at third base or in the outfield. He could give first baseman and reigning AL MVP Jose Abreu the occasional day off but Vaughn’s regular spot is expected to be designated hitter.
Vaughn will take an even-keel mindset into the start of spring training.
“You can’t go in there expecting to change the world,” he said. “You’ve just got to go out and be yourself. That’s what I’m going to do. Just go play my game and what happens happens.
“We have an unbelievable team right now. I hope I can be a part of that run. I think we’ve got a really good shot at winning some rings.”
Vaughn talks in the video below about Chicago's Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa:
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Cover photo of Andrew Vaughn by Ron Vesely, Chicago White Sox
Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo