Vaughn achieves 'pretty cool' benchmark

CHICAGO -- White Sox first baseman Andrew Vaughn launched his 20th home run during Chicago's 10-2 loss in the opener of a four-game series Thursday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.

The 25-year-old reached the 20-long-ball plateau for the first time in three Major League seasons, joining Luis Robert Jr. (35) and Jake Burger (25 before being traded to the Marlins) as the 2023 White Sox players to hit 20 or above. In the midst of a difficult campaign, with the White Sox dropping to a season-worst 35 games under .500 at 56-91, it still makes sense for Vaughn to take a moment to enjoy this personal accomplishment.

“It’s definitely pretty cool. Getting to that benchmark, but that’s all it has to be: a benchmark. Got to keep going,” Vaughn said. “Sometimes, certain things will stick out. Like 20 [home runs], that’s pretty cool.

“But when the season is over, you look at the stats. Look at them, address them and make some adjustments.”

Vaughn arrived at the Majors at the outset of ‘21 after just 245 Minor League plate appearances. The first baseman, selected third overall in the 2019 Draft, arrived as a left fielder due to Eloy Jiménez’s Spring Training injury.

His overall inexperience and extra wear and tear brought about by literally the first outfield experience took its toll on Vaughn, who finished 2021 going 4-for-42 with no extra-base hits in his final 12 games. In ‘22, Vaughn hit .200 with a .580 OPS during September and October.

As a result, getting himself ready to succeed from Games 1 to 162 was an offseason priority. With his two-run blast against Kenta Maeda (5-7) in the seventh, Vaughn is hitting .353 with three homers, three doubles, seven runs scored and six RBIs over his last nine September starts.

“I’m feeling good. Definitely feeling better. The last two years, I learned a lot about myself and tried to prepare for this,” Vaughn said. “Nothing huge. Just adding stuff in the weight room. I need to go in the training room, don’t be so stubborn. Get it done.”

“I like what he’s done, and I like that he hasn’t tapped into his full potential yet [but] he’s [still] having a pretty good year,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “There’s a lot more in the tank. I think he’s going to turn out to be a pretty good baseball player for us for a long time.”

Grifol isn’t the only one with this belief.

Although Vaughn’s 75 RBIs are tied with Robert for the team lead, he’s still not quite at the level of production expected for a big corner bat. But numerous pundits around the game, from opposing scouts to long time broadcasters, point to Vaughn as a 25-homer, 100-RBI possibility with a higher average than his current .258 mark.

Those words of praise are nice for Vaughn to hear, but setting lofty goals is not really on his radar.

“No, you can’t,” Vaughn said. “Personally, if I set those goals for myself, it’s like if I’m not getting there, it’s end-all, be-all. At the end of the day, I want to go out and do the best I can. If I get to those numbers, that’s phenomenal, but I want to strive to be the best to get to those numbers.”

“Every year, you see him get a little better and better, and throughout the year this year, I’ve seen him get better and better,” Grifol said. “He’s had some really good months and he’s had some months where he’s battled a little bit of adversity but it’s good to see him get that 20th. … We need him moving forward.”

There’s little doubt Vaughn will be part of the ‘24 White Sox and beyond. In fact, he’s one of the few roster certainties moving away from this forgettable season. But the overriding future target for Vaughn, as he looks across at a Twins team ready to clinch the American League Central, is to help his team move closer to contention.

“Losing stinks. Look over there and everybody is happy. When you win, it’s a good thing,” Vaughn said. “If you are not winning more than you are losing, it’s not a good feeling. We have to keep going.

“That’s the ultimate goal. Win as many games as we can and give ourselves a chance to be in that postseason."