Cal Baseball: More Versatile Andrew Vaughn Hopes to Thrive in Year 2 with White Sox

A year after being thrown into left field, the former first baseman may play in right.

Through his first two games in his second spring training camp with the Chicago White Sox, Andrew Vaughn already is reminding us of what he can do.

The former Cal star is batting .571 and showing the position versatility no one knew he had until his promising but unconventional 2021 rookie season.

Vaughn hit Chicago's first home run of the Arizona Cactus League (shown in the video below), and on Sunday he was 2 for 4 at the plate and took turns in right field, left field and first base, his position during his college days.

A year ago, Vaughn was hoping to earn a spot as Chicago’s designated hitter and perhaps backup first baseman. Everything changed when left fielder Eloy Jimenez suffered a long-term injury during spring ball.

Manager Tony La Russa approached Vaughn to explain how he planned to remedy the situation.

“We needed a guy to fill that spot and Tony came up to me and was like, ‘Hey you’re playing outfield,’ “ Vaughn told the Chicago Sun Times.

Vaughn told his boss, “I have very minimal experience.”

“You want at-bats?” La Russa asked.

“Yeah,” Vaughn said.

“OK,” La Russa answered, ending the conversation.

Vaughn was expected to make his biggest contributions to the team as a hitter, and he delivered a solid if uneven rookie season at the plate: .235/.309/.396 with 22 doubles, 15 home runs, 56 runs and 48 RBI in 127 games.

He wound up playing 95 games in left field — 86 as a starter — also saw time in right field, first base, second base, third base and DH. And he was entirely capable, committing just four errors in 239 total chances.

Andrew Vaughn found his way in left field last season / Photo by Aaron Josefczyk, USA Today

No one was more impressed than Adam Engel, a former Gold Glove finalist in center field, who is beginning his sixth season with the White Sox.

“Crazy,” Engel told the Sun Times. “In college and the minor leagues, I saw a lot of infielders try to make that move to the outfield and it’s not a crazy hard transition, but most guys have a period of struggle, and that’s at a lower level.

"And Vaughn stepped in and he was never a liability out there. And he did it at the big league level. Which to me is extremely impressive. Played a lot of big innings for us. That kind of blew me away.”

The White Sox hope to use Vaughn primarily this season in right field and at DH. Vaughn is confident the work he put in a year ago will pay dividends this season.

“I shagged as many balls as I could in BP, getting my feet wet, doing everything I could do and striving to have my pitcher know I could make the plays out there, that I want to make the plays out there, that I was working my butt off,” he said. “Just being an athlete, going out there and playing baseball.”

Vaughn played just 55 games in the minor league after Chicago took him No. 3 in the 2019 draft. The 2020 minor-league season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic and Vaughn was thrown into the deep end of the pool last season, forced to play a bigger role than the club expended before injuries hit.

He slumped at times last season and admitted, “I had to battle myself sometimes.”

This offseason was devoted to refining his approach at the plate.

“You want to keep progressing,” Vaughn said. “It was good to have a full offseason where I could work on my craft. The biggest thing was to simplify everything. Create less movement and be more direct to the baseball.”

Cover photo of Andrew Vaughn by Tommy Gilligan, USA Today

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