Chicago White Sox fans waited years for Andrew Vaughn to become the middle-of-the-order bat he looked to be during his college days at Cal.
When the White Sox drafted Vaughn third overall in the 2019 MLB Draft, he was none of the most decorated hitters college baseball had ever seen. He seemed like a shoe-in to be an MLB first baseman that belted 30 home runs and 100+ RBIs on a yearly basis.
Vaughn was joining an organization that had Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko, and Jose Abreu for 30 years, but he was never quite able to carry the torch.
In his best White Sox season, Andrew Vaughn hit 21 home runs with a .429 slugging percentage. A miserable start to the 2025 season helped Chicago finally realize that he was never going to develop into the big power first baseman they hoped and the White Sox demoted Vaughn to Triple-A.
On June 13, 10 days after his demotion, the White Sox traded Vaughn to the Milwaukee Brewers for veteran starting pitcher Aaron Civale.
Vaughn joined the Nashville Sounds for 16 games before getting another opportunity in Major League Baseball thanks to an injury to Rhys Hoskins. Vaughn debuted for the Brewers on Monday and his first at-bat was a slap in the face to White Sox fans.
Andrew Vaughn goes yard in Brewers debut
In his first at-bat with Milwaukee, Vaughn blasted a three-run home run off of Dodgers All-Star Yoshinobu Yamamoto...Because, of course he did.
Vaughn's home run opened up the scoring in the first inning as Milwaukee costed to a 9-1 victory in the series opener.
ANDREW VAUGHN'S FIRST BREWERS AB ENDS IN A THREE-RUN HOMER pic.twitter.com/Nc2hcgZ0d5
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 7, 2025
It was Vaughn's sixth home run of the year. He also worked a walk in the game after walking just seven (7) times in 193 plate appearances with the Sox.
In one game, Vaughn raised his season OPS from .531 to .556. He demonstrated the power that White Sox fans have spent years waiting for.
Now that he's with the Brewers, Vaughn is capable of coming up with runners on base and putting up a crooked number with one swing. He's finally hitting meaningful home runs, which is what the White Sox thought he'd do when they drafted him.
This isn't the first time he has done this, either. In his first game with the the Triple-A Nashville Sounds after being traded, Vaughn blasted a grand slam onto the concourse off of Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Brandon Hughes.
It's not that I'm actively rooting against Vaughn. It's nothing personal. But it's incredibly annoying to see another player thrive once they leave Chicago after disappointing Sox fans for years.