The Chicago White Sox continue to give struggling first baseman Andrew Vaughn patience when they should be copying what the Texas Rangers are doing with Jake Burger.
The Rangers are hoping a demotion to Triple-A will reset the former White Sox fan favorite, who was hitting .190 with three home runs in his first 100 at-bats of 2025.
This is not the first time a team has demoted a struggling first baseman, either. The Detroit Tigers notably demoted first baseman former first overall pick Spencer Torkelson last season. Torkelson has proven capable of hitting 30+ home runs at the big league level, but was struggling with a .201 batting average and ,597 OPS at the end of May in 2024.
The Tigers sent Torkelson down, and he responded with six home runs and an improved .781 OPS in August and September after he was recalled. Torkelson has now started 2025 red hot, producing an .897 OPS this season with 10 home runs.
He is finally living up to the immense potential that made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft. All it took was some tough love for a player envisioned to be a franchise cornerstone to produce like one.
White Sox should follow suit and send down Andrew Vaughn
The White Sox don't seem too inclined to follow the blueprint. GM Chris Getz is citing that Vaughn is unlucky as he struggles with a .174/.217/.273 slash line with a wRC+ of 31 and a -1 fWAR. There might be some truth to that, as Vaughn's expected batting average is near .250, along with an over .400 expected slugging percentage. He is getting the barrel on the bat more often this season.
Here is the problem: Vaughn's strikeout percentage is trending toward a career high if he continues at the pace he is on. While he is currently riding a six-game on-base streak, he has struck out seven times over that span. Vaughn is swinging at more pitches out of the zone, which is usually a sign that a player is pressing at the plate.
While he does have a great slugging percentage with runners in scoring position, his batting average is still well below .200. Vaughn doesn't seem to have the clutch gene. He has a batting average well south of .100 with runners in scoring position and two outs.
The Milwaukee Brewers had no problem a couple of days back putting Andrew Benintendi on base in the ninth, even though he represented the tying run because they knew Vaughn would likely make the final out. Sure enough, he grounded out to end Chicago's rally.
Vaughn has become a rally killer. He is detrimental for the White Sox lineup.
The numbers show bad luck, the eye test says otherwise
The eye test just doesn't back up the numbers, which suggest Vaughn is merely getting unlucky. Which is why it is time for the Sox to follow the Tigers' and Rangers' lead.
Burger got sent down, and he was not struggling nearly as badly as Vaughn has. Jake's slash line was .190/.231/.330 with three home runs before his demotion. The difference between the Sox and the Rangers is that Texas is in win-now mode and hoping to return to the playoffs this season. The Rangers are loaded with offensive talent throughout the organization and cannot afford to be patient.
But the White Sox do have Tim Elko sitting in Triple-A, who plays the same position as Vaughn, and is hitting the cover off the ball.
The Tigers demoted Torkelson last season long before they went on that hot streak to make the playoffs. When Torkelson was sent down in June, it was looking like the Tigers were well on their way toward giving up on the 2024 season. You don't need to be in playoff contention to make the move that is right for the team.
Getz can go on and on about Vaughn's bad luck, but the team needs to consider how to get him restarted to do damage at the plate.
Waiting for lady luck after variance has been so cruel to this franchise is not a strategy.
This is also not about the previous leadership group (a group Getz was a part of) rushing Vaughn to the big leagues. He has been in the majors long enough that he should have put it all together by now to join his peers at the top of the 2019 draft by providing value.
First 6 Picks of the 2019 MLB Draft: pic.twitter.com/bo9ccbhV2y
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) May 2, 2025
Instead, the team will do what it has always done and wait for him to hit in June like he always does. All that will do is eventually get his production back to replacement level. That just means more of the same for the White Sox. Trying something like what the Tigers did might yield different and better results.