Chicago White Sox: Patience is key with Andrew Vaughn

Andrew Vaughn is ranked as the best prospect at his position by MLB.com and the 14th best prospect overall. He is projected to be the DH for the Chicago White Sox this season and he has bettered his chances with his performance this spring. At only 22 years old, it looks like the organization’s top prospect can be making the jump from Class A-Advanced to the MLB as soon as Opening Day.

The Chicago White Sox believes Andrew Vaughn can accomplish big things.

In his small sample size of 28 at-bats so far this spring, Vaughn has impressed many as he is currently batting .321 with an OPS of .905. He also has totaled nine hits, one home run, four RBIs, and has drawn six walks while only striking out six times.

Vaughn continues to show the organization that his outstanding college performance is something he is trying to translate to the pros. I would go as far as to say that I would prefer to see him take that starting DH spot over anyone else on the roster.

Of course, Vaughn won’t be a DH his entire career as he looks to be the first baseman of the future for the Chicago White Sox. His defense has taken a step forward this Spring.

Andrew Vaughn is going to be an impact player for the Chicago White Sox immediately. As we look back on last season, the White Sox only saw the DH position produce a .157/.250/.377 slash line with 10 home runs and 19 RBIs. As long as Vaughn can produce anything better than those numbers the team will feel his impact in the lineup.

Vaughn is someone who I believe we will see in the majority of White Sox games this season. Although he has impressed in Spring Training, it is hard to tell which route the organization will take in bringing him up. The team could take the same route they did with Luis Robert and bring Vaughn up to make his debut in the season opener. The team could also take the Nick Madrigal route and let him ease into the first few weeks in Double-A or Triple-A ball before bringing him up.

Vaughn isn’t a typical DH. He brings power to the plate but he also is a natural-born hitter. He has Nick Madrigal-like instincts at the plate as he is so good at keeping his strikeout numbers low while keeping his average and on-base percentages high. He will continue to balance out this team offensively and he will complement those batting before and after him.

I expect Vaughn to put up a .280 batting average, an on-base percentage over .320, and double-digit home runs. The key, however, is going to be patience. The bright side here is that this year there is going to be a full 162 game season so Vaughn will have multiple opportunities to get adjusted to the professional game. Every young player will go through a stretch where they struggle to string together hits but given time, Vaughn has the potential to blossom into a .300 hitter with 30 home runs.

Andrew Vaughn will be playing for the Chicago White Sox this season, it’s just a matter of when. With the season starting on April 1st, a reasonable prediction would be saying we will be seeing Vaughn in Chicago by May. As long as the MLB’s number one first baseman prospect continues to show out as he has, I would not rule out seeing him making the trip to Anaheim for Opening Day.