Chicago White Sox: Red-hot Andrew Vaughn making big impact

As the Chicago White Sox work to stay in the thick of the race for the American League Central crown, don’t overlook what Andrew Vaughn has brought to the team’s offense in recent games.

Andrew Vaughn is making an impact for the Chicago White Sox

The 24-year-old Vaughn saw action in 127 games for the Chicago White Sox in 2021, posting a .235/.309/.396 slash line and an OPS+ of 91. However, this season, Vaughn has upped those numbers in a big way, including a stretch since May 22 where he has slashed .384/.423/.545. That includes a career-high four-hit night in a Monday night win over the Toronto Blue Jays and a 3-for-5 performance in the series finale against Toronto on Wednesday afternoon.

Drill down even further and you will see that, over the last seven games, Vaughn has an eye-popping .455/.471/.636 slash line.

Also key to Vaughn’s success in recent games has been his ability to lower his strikeout rate. Since May 22, Vaughn’s strikeout rate is at 13 percent. Compare that to last season’s 21.5 percent strikeout rate and it’s easy to see that Vaughn is having more success by putting the ball in play more in 2022.

It’s a far cry from the offseason when White Sox fans were wondering if the team would trade off Vaughn as he was coming off his rookie season. There was talk that Vaughn may have reached a plateau with the White Sox and the clock was ticking on the best time to trade him as his value might never be higher.

As it turns out, Vaughn still certainly had room to grow and outperform his rookie totals, very good news for a White Sox team that struggled in the early parts of the season as the Minnesota Twins grabbed early command of the division.

Vaughn’s performance last season did not earn him even one vote in the American League Rookie of the Year balloting, so it’s easy to see why White Sox fans were not overly impressed upon first glance. However, Vaughn, after coming back on May 14 from a stint on the injured list with a bruised hand, has been a major part of Chicago’s offense.

The Chicago White Sox may have plenty of bigger names and paychecks in the lineup, but don’t overlook what Vaughn is doing to keep the White Sox offense red-hot.