The Chicago White Sox have a recent past of first basemen that were amazing. One of Frank Thomas, Paul Konerko, and Jose Abreu have been the first baseman of this team for the better part of multiple decades.
Now that Jose Abreu has moved on from the White Sox by signing with the Houston Astros, they are in need of the next great one. The plan is for that to be Andrew Vaughn.
Chicago selected Andrew Vaughn with the third overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft out of Cal. He was the best power hitter in college during his draft year which is why he was drafted so high.
Vaughn's bat has gotten better and better in the MLB since he came in which is a great sign but he has hardly gotten to play his natural position of first base.
Andrew Vaughn is going to play the position well for the White Sox.
The White Sox have been using him in the outfield for almost his entire career because of the fact that the roster is flawed and often injured. Now is his time to take over the position that he grew up playing.
Nobody is expecting Vaughn to hit 30/100 and win a Gold Glove this year but he needs to take a step while playing some solid defense.
He was not a very good defensive outfielder but he never complained about being forced to play out of position. Now, he deserves his chance to play first base and be the guy in his position.
Andrew Benintendi is going to be Andrew Vaughn's new replacement in the outfield which is amazing for them because he is a very good player. With Luis Robert and Oscar Colas helping him out in the outfield, it should be much better than having infielders play out there.
Andrew Vaughn now gets to focus on playing first base and hitting which is exactly what he needs. If the White Sox are going to have a bounce back-year in 2023, this is a player that needs to be one of the key contributors. Everyone should have all the faith in the world that he can do so.