For some, Andrew Vaughn’s massive game for the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday marked the occasion for an apology, not by virtue of the individual performance but as a culmination of his unabating heroics in his brief time with the team.
Called up to replace the injured Rhys Hoskins, Vaughn initially seemed like a stopgap at best. Even after he launched a three-run shot in his first at bat and started off 6-for-14 as a Brewer, it would have been rash to dismiss his horrendous White Sox slump across 48 games this season. Especially when Jake Bauers joined Hoskins on the IL, trading for depth didn’t seem too outlandish in light of Vaughn’s earlier struggles and the others’ return timelines. The Orioles’ Ryan O’Hearn, for example, someone still linked to Milwaukee, looked like a solid option.
Not to overreact, but such a move now looks a lot less relevant, if not entirely superfluous. Apologies to King Vaughn. May his majesty forgive the unfaithful.
Andrew Vaughn is leaving less room by the day for accusations of “fraud” or “fluke” in Milwaukee Brewers tenure
The Andrew Vaughn Era in Milwaukee has now exceeded three weeks. His 48 at bats since the callup do not represent an enormous sample size, but it’s starting to feel like enough to ease any concerns about surviving Hoskins’ absence. Many fans may have felt that way for some time. For whatever it’s worth, Vaughn already has half as many Milwaukee RBIs as Hoskins’ season total.
Yesterday versus the Cubs, he continued his reign of terror against opposing pitchers with 3-4 day including a grandslam and six driven in. He’s hitting .375/.439/.771 as a Brewer with five homeruns and 21 RBIs. In his hands, the stick of wood known as a bat would be better called a firebrand.
He recently gave doubters like this one a tiny ember of fuel – aha! regression to the norm! – simply by not scorching the cover off the ball for a couple of games. He’s chased that pair of 0-fors by going 9-17, leaving the yard in three of his last four games.
Safe to say he’s been holding down the fort at first base.
Making his way back from an injured thumb, Hoskins will not be back, updates indicate, until at least late August. Bauers seems to be working on a similar timetable. Certainly that’s plenty of time for things to go wrong, and, apology issued, wouldn’t now be the time for a jinx.
Just because, the Brewers could still try to add a power bat at another position. The way Vaughn has been going, though, it seems reasonable to believe until further notice that he is as fine an option as any in the middle of the order.
Manager Pat Murphy has penciled him fifth in Wednesday afternoon’s lineup versus Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga.
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