The White Sox are on a bit of a hot streak, as they have already won three games in May. To a normal team that isn't significant, but for the White Sox, who lost 120+ games last season, that is a sign of improvement. This winning stretch is propelled by hot streaks from Luis Robert Jr., Miguel Vargas, Edgar Quero, as well as the return of Chase Meidroth.
While those players have been playing well as of late, Andrew Vaughn, the 2019 3rd overall pick, can't say the same. This isn't encouraging, as Vaughn also had a rough start last season before picking it up in the second half.
As it currently stands, Vaughn is hitting .176 with three homeruns and just seven RBIs through 125 at-bats. If that wasn't rough enough, FanGraphs has him at -1.0 WAR so far, which is tied for worst in the league with Joc Pederson.
This is very disappointing, as expectations were high for Vaughn when the White Sox selected him with the third overall pick. After a decent rookie season in 2021, he followed it up with two seasons in which he increased his homerun and RBI total by a few each year. However, he has yet to improve the last few years, having the worst season of his career last year. When you combine that with his start this year, it is very concerning.
If Vaughn's lack of improvement over the last few years wasn't bad enough, an interesting allegation recently dropped about Vaughn's training in the offseason.
Out of nowhere, ex White Sox minor leaguer Tyler Osik, who was coincidentally drafted in the same draft as Vaughn, dropped a claim about Vaughn in a now deleted tweet.
If Tyler Osik is even telling 10% of the truth about Andrew Vaughn and his work ethic, Tim Elko should be in the Big Leagues right now.
— Just Another Year: White Sox (@JAYChi_WhiteSox) May 4, 2025
Release Vaughn and get someone on the 40-man roster that gives a damn. pic.twitter.com/9iIq4r8fjQ
This is interesting, as Osik comes out of nowhere to claim that Vaughn would be more concerned about golf while in Arizona rather than working out and focusing on his craft. Osik claims that Vaughn would "show up 2 times a week, dumbbell bench 40 pounds, and take 20 swings off the machine."
It does say a lot that the tweet is now deleted, but then again there is very little incentive for Osik to lie about something like this. Nonetheless, Vaughn needs to pick it up soon, as if he keeps this up, he is on pace to be the worst player in the major leagues in terms of WAR.
It is probably best practice to take these claims by Osik with a grain of salt, as we cannot confirm how true, if at all true, these claims are. While Vaugn's struggles aren't ideal, they are even more in the spotlight due to what Tim Elko is doing in AAA. Hopefully Elko gets a chance soon, as Vaughn could use a few days off to get his mind right.
