Cal Baseball: Andrew Vaughn Has Prepped to Avoid Hitting a Wall in 3rd MLB Season

Andrew Vaughn is beginning his third spring training with the Chicago White Sox and the 24-year-old former Cal star is clear about what he wants to achieve this season.

Asked by reporters this week if he thinks an expected move back to his natural position of first base will have benefits at the plate, Vaughn said it’s important for him to keep those two things separate.

He worked in the offseason on his endurance so that he can sustain through a 162-game grind.

“Work on getting better throughout the season. Not hit that wall and get over it,” he said.

Vaughn never had anything resembling a full minor league season — the COVID-19 pandemic saw to that. So when he began his rookie season with the White Sox in 2021, playing a full MLB schedule was a new chapter. And a long one.

It showed in his performance. Consider this breakdown of his 2021 season:

— First 97 games (From Opening Day through Aug. 8): .264 batting average (83 for 314), 22 doubles, 13 homers, 37 RBI, .459 slugging percentage, .333 on-base, .792 OPS

— Final 30 games (From Aug. 11 to end of season): .146 batting average (15 for 103), zero doubles 2 home runs, 11 RBI, .204 slugging percentage, .235 on-base, .439 OPS

Pretty dramatic dropoff, without a doubt.

Asked if it happened again last season, in his second campaign, Vaughn said, “Yeah, a little bit, definitely.”

Here’s what it looked like in 2022:

— First 91 games (From Opening Day through Aug. 13): .301 batting average (106 for 352), 21 doubles, 1 triple, 12 homers, 56 RBI, .469 slugging percentage, .351 on-base, .819 OPS

— Final 43 games (From Aug. 14 to end of season): .203 batting average (32 for 158), 7 doubles, 5 HR, 7 doubles, 20 RBI, .342 slugging percentage, .253 on-base, .595 OPS

“Did a little bit better (than 2021),” Vaughn assessed, “but personally I want to do a lot better, keep progressing off of that.”

The offseason featured a lot of cardio work and weightlifting, Vaughn said.

“Endurance. Getting the legs ready and being able to do 162. That’s the goal.”

Beyond the endurance component, Vaughn said there are areas of his game at the plate that still can progress.

“There’s a lot of things I want to improve on. It’s definitely tough to do it throughout the season,” he said. “But in the offseason I was working on some things, getting ready to go into this season full force.”

The White Sox are starting with a new coaching staff, led by manager Pedro Grifol, 53, who spent 2013 through 2022 as a coach with the Kansas City Royals. Grifol replaces Tony La Russa, who retired last October at the age of 78,

Because Vaughn lives in Arizona, he was able to routinely check in at the Sox spring training facility in Camelback. It gave him the chance to get to know Grifol and new batting coaches Jose Castro and his assistant, Chris Johnson.

“It’s been good,” Vaughn said. “They’re ready to go. It’s pretty straight and narrow. They’ve got a plan, we’ve got a plan.”

Vaughn also has made a connection with Castro, a 64-year-old native of Cuba who has coached with the Mariners, Cubs and Braves. Grifol and Castro first met in 2008, when Grifol was Seattle’s director of player development and Castro was a coach on the field.

Castro’s opening message to Chicago’s players was straightforward and non-threatening: “I’m not here to change your guys’ swings. I have knowledge on my own and I’m going to give you guys tidbits if you want it,” Vaughn recalls him saying. “We’re big league hitters and we’ve been doing this for a while. He’s there to be a help.”

Vaughn played down his expected move back to first base, where he played throughout high school and at Cal. Injuries forced him to learn left and right field the past two years, but Chicago also was set at first base with Jose Abreu.

Abreu, who in November signed a three-year deal with the Astros for $58.5 million, played his first nine major league seasons with the White Sox, slugging 243 home runs and collecting six 100-RBI seasons. They are big shoes for Vaughn to fill.

He said he’s excited about returning to first but understands what Abreu has meant to the club.

“Everybody knows who he was in this organization. It’s definitely tough,” Vaughn said. “It’s a business — we’ve got to push forward and we’ve got to pull our own.”

Vaughn never takes anything for granted. “Still got to keep working every day. Got to get better,” he said. “I wasn’t at first much the last couple years, been in the outfield. Just got to do my best in spring and get ready.”

Cover photo of Andrew Vaughn signing autographs at spring training by Rick Scuteri, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo