While much of the focus this week has been around Mike Clevinger, White Sox fans do have other players to pay attention to in spring training and that includes Andrew Vaughn. It's a big year for the 2019 first-rounder, as Vaughn is not only taking over first base, replacing the beloved José Abreu, but the right-handed hitter also has to prove he can be a key figure in the middle of Chicago's lineup.
Vaughn is entering his third MLB season and through two years he's produced mixed results. One area almost all fans can agree that needs improvement is the power department from Vaughn at the plate.
During his rookie season, Vaughn slugged .396, hit 15 home runs and had a .161 ISO in 469 plate appearances. Last year, Vaughn slugged .429, hit 17 home runs and had a .159 ISO in 555 plate appearances. How did his power numbers match up with the league average for those two seasons? Again, mixed results, as Vaughn's rookie struggles against right-handed pitching led to below average power numbers, but he did improve in 2022, slugging 34 points higher than the MLB average, while his ISO was seven points higher.
However, now that Vaughn is taking over at first base there is an expectation that he'll need to increase his power numbers across the board and during this week's Pinwheels And Ivy Podcast, we looked at some possible adjustments Vaughn is already working on at spring training.
With some new mechanics, Vaughn could look at a decent spike in home runs in 2023.
That led to some discussion on projections with the PECOTA standings coming out this week, having the White Sox finishing the season in third place in the American League Central Division, behind the Cleveland Guardians and Minnesota Twins. These latest PECOTA projections have the White Sox winning 78 games.
Back to Vaughn, when you take a look at his Fangraphs page you'll notice a bunch of projections for his 2023 season and they're pretty favorable. You have his home run total ranging from 19 to 29, while his slugging percentage is above .450 in the majority of these projection models.
Oh and you know, power numbers can be greatly affected by what balls MLB decides to use this season. I know that it's not the same as NBA, NFL and NHL, and that baseballs use more materials to make, but it's still crazy to me how this continues to be a story for the past five years or so.
But nevertheless, you love to see Vaughn still putting in the work early in camp and making adjustments at the plate to get to the next level as a hitter. We'll see how these changes, if he sticks with them, pan out, but there's no doubt the White Sox are counting on Vaughn to be a cornerstone in their lineup for many years to come.
You can watch the full Pinwheels And Ivy Podcast below, as we did dive into the Clevinger story, Rick Hahn's session with the media and our thoughts on why low projections for the White Sox are fair.
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