South Side Sox Player of the Week (March 3-8): Andrew Vaughn

Now that White Sox fans are waking up from a long winter’s slumber, they may start to think that the 2022 season was just a bad dream.

In a way, it was. That hard-to-swallow and underachieving slog of a season has been replaced with a refreshing breath of Arizona spring. For players like Andrew Vaughn, who played five different defensive positions last year, the sun shines warmly on first base, his natural habitat.

With José Abreu gone, the Sox will be looking to get a lot out of Vaughn, their 2019 first round draft pick. His potential for power-hitting is astronomical, and his dependability at the first corner will be vital to White Sox success.

Behind the plate, Vaughn has been aiming for the heart of the batting order, with a steady nine hits in nine games and a .360 average. This is in line with the philosophy of new skipper Pedro Grifol, whose staff is really pushing a back-to-basics, fundamental-focused approach. Two of Vaughn’s hits came in last week’s putdown of the Cubs. His batting eye is just as keen. He’s struck out just four times and taken two walks this spring.

Vaughn turns 25 years old next month: He’s just hitting his stride. Sox fans have seen the power that he packs into his compact, easy-bake swing.

Give him a solid spot in the batting order, and this might just be the summer of Andy.

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2023 South Side Sox Players of the Week

Oscar Colás (February 25-March 2)
Andrew Vaughn (March 3-8)

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Top 7 MVP Standings

Oscar Colás (9.5)
Zach Remillard (7.1)
Hanser Alberto (6.9)
Eloy Jiménez (6.4)
Malachi Hayes (6.1)
Seby Zavala (5.7)
Andrew Vaughn (5.5)

Top 7 Cold Cat Standings

Yoán Moncada (-14.6)
White Sox Offense (-10.0)
Dylan Cease (-9.1)
Kendall Graveman (-6.5)
Jesse Scholtens (-5.9)
Davis Martin (-5.5)
Lucas Giolito (-5.3)

Oscar Colás remains atop the leader board for a second straight week — as does Yoán Moncada, who can’t do anything about that for a while.

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Writer Standings

Perennial first-division finisher Joe Resis pushes into our top spot, as the only writer covering more than one game who remains undefeated. Hannah will add a tie to her record next week, but is nonetheless alone in the basement.

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If you’re interested in seeing more of Mitch’s work, or if you’d like to purchase original drawings or prints, contact him via Twitter (@soxsketcher), Instagram (@southsidesharpie), or by e-mail at southsidesharpie@gmail.com. Thanks for supporting local artists!