How Chicago White Sox First Baseman Andrew Vaughn Has Performed Since Demotion

The White Sox sent Andrew Vaughn down to Triple-A on May 23 after the first baseman slashed .189/.218/.314/.531 in his first 193 major league plate appearances. General manager Chris Getz called it a focus on Vaughn reclaiming who he is as a player.

"The plan is to have Andrew Vaughn back here," Getz said on May 23 at Rate Field in Chicago. "And we feel like it’s the best thing for Andrew to continue his career at the major league level is to take a step back right now."

The 27-year-old former No. 3 overall pick has played in seven games with the Charlotte Knights. In 32 plate appearances, he's totaled eight hits, five runs, two doubles, one home run, six RBI, three walks and five strikeouts. That comes out to a .276/.344./.448/.792 slash line.

Vaughn has notched a hit in five of seven games, including a three-hit effort on Saturday with two doubles. He also hasn't struck out more than once in any game. Vaughn joined the Knights at the end of their home series against the Round Rock Express, and they wrapped up a five-game road series against the Buffalo Bisons on Sunday.

With the White Sox in 2025, Vaughn ranked in the 78th percentile or higher among MLB hitters in average exit velocity (91.5 mph), squared-up percentage (29.9%), barrel percentage (13.3%) and hard-hit percentage (48.3%).

He's had a slight drop off in average exit velocity in the minors at 89.2 mph, but out of 24 batted balls he has eight over 100 mph and 13 over 90 mph. Four of his five strikeouts have come against off-speed pitches, and two of the five were against pitches out of the zone. He's been struck out looking once on a slider.

The day Vaughn was sent down, Getz talked more about their plan.

"I think that there are some mechanical adjustments that can be made," Getz said. "Sinking up his lower half and upper half. He was a guy that early on although he maybe wasn’t getting hits, he was making good decisions at the plate, seeing the ball well, taking his walks. Some of that is putting your body in a position to make quality decisions. So this game will speed you up for a lot of different reasons because of the talent of the pitching, the overall talent of the Major League level."

"So to go down and play against this type of competition in a different environment can really allow you to make those adjustments. You put so much pressure on yourself as a hitter to be productive and sometimes the harder you try can be a detriment. At this point, we felt like it was necessary to go down there. We still believe in Andrew Vaughn. He knows he can be a productive Major League player. I imagine he’s going to take advantage of this."