Cal Baseball: Andrew Vaughn's Injury Diagnosed as a Hip Pointer - He's Out 1 to 2 Weeks

The second-year White Sox player was batting .467 in spring ball before Sunday's mishap.

The news on Andrew Vaughn could have been worse.

The Chicago White announced Monday that the former Cal star suffered a hip pointer and will be sidelined from game action for one to two weeks. A hip pointer is a bruised pelvis.

His return date will depend on how well his symptoms respond. The White Sox open their season April 8 on the road against the Detroit Tigers.

The White Sox reportedly were concerned his injury might be worse than it is.

“Real good. Feared the worst,” White Sox manager Tony La Russa told reporters on Monday. “The first report was there was nothing fractured and then the CT and this morning MRI, said hip pointer, sore. Very good news. It was scary.”

La Russa added: “What the doctor said was, ‘Let’s see when the pain leaves.' If it’s something maybe sore for him, he could practice, but it’s got to be something you could handle if you could get out.

“We just have to be patient. It will be April soon. We want him to get it well.”

Vaughn, who turns 24 on Sunday, was injured while making a diving catch of a line drive by the Dodgers’ Hanser Alberto in the fourth inning of Sunday’s Cactus League game.

Here’s how the Chicago Sun Times described the sequence:

Vaughn threw the ball back into the infield from his knees and stood up after catching Hanser Alberto’s liner in the gap. After taking a couple of steps bent forward with his hands on his knees and signaled to the Sox dugout. Vaughn was assisted onto the cart, accompanied by assistant trainer Josh Fallin.

In his second second as a major league after being drafted No. 3 overall by Chicago in 2019, Vaughn is expected to split time between right field and DH this season. A first baseman at Cal, he played much of his rookie season in 2021 in left field after starter Eloy Jimenez tore a pectoral muscle during spring training.

Vaughn was having an excellent spring, learning a new position in right field and batting .467 (7 for 15) with a home run in his first spring at-bat.

Cover photo of Andrew Vaughn by Matt Marton, USA Today

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