WCH

Andrew Vaughn, IF

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Scouting report

Vaughn spent 2020 at the unscoutable alternate site, but his most telling at-bats were all very visible as they're the ones he took off big league pitching, first during spring training and then during Chicago's intrasquad preparation for the season. He hit .259/.394/.444 in the spring off of admittedly diluted pitching, then grinded out long, tough at-bats during the summer tune-up against a staff that would turn out to be quite good. He's also one of the more decorated college hitters ever, slashing .374/.495/.688 at Cal. He's very likely to clear the high offensive bar at first base. He's not a great feet-and-hands athlete on the infield but Vaughn's swing is pretty athletic, and sweet. He doesn't chase and seems to have a narrow early-count approach focused on pitches he can crush. He's less able to damage well-executed breaking stuff away from him, but he often spoils those pitches or puts them in play and, again, typically doesn't offer at them until he has to. There's a clearer path to the big leagues for Vaughn now that Edwin Encarnacion and Nomar Mazara are no longer on the roster (I talk more about this in the System Overview), and he'll likely play in the big leagues in 2021. He continues to project as an All-Star first baseman. (Alternate site)