Earlier this season, the Milwaukee Brewers saw one of their pitchers, Aaron Civale, request a trade. This request was made after the team made the decision to move Civale from the starting rotation to the bullpen. Since he has been a starting pitcher for his entire career and will be a free agent this offseason, he wanted the chance to continue that role elsewhere.
And the Brewers granted his request.
Of course, Milwaukee shipped Civale to the Chicago White Sox, one of the worst team in Major League Baseball, for former third-overall pick Andrew Vaughn, a first baseman who had struggled so badly that he had been demoted to Triple-A.
Upon being acquired by the Brewers, Vaughn was sent to their Triple-A team, the Nashville Sounds, as Rhys Hoskins was entrenched at first base for Milwaukee.
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Prior to being sent down to the minors by the White Sox, Vaughn was only hitting .189/.218/.314 with five home runs and 19 RBI in 48 games. He did not show much improvement after his demotion, hitting .211/.328/.351 with two home runs and 11 RBI for Chicago’s Triple-A squad.
But after being traded to the Brewers, Vaughn hit .259/.338/.500 with three home runs and 16 RBI in 16 games for the Sounds. And after Hoskins sustained a sprained wrist and needed to go on the injured list, Milwaukee decided to give Vaughn another shot at the Major League level.
And he produced immediately.
In his first six games with the Brewers, Vaughn is hitting .353/.450/.824 with two home runs and 10 RBI.
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While six games is a very small sample size, there is a reason that Vaughn is a former third-overall pick. He has all the talent needed to be a major contributor on the Big League level. For whatever reason, though, he was never able to realize that potential in Chicago.
But with the Brewers, who are known for their redemption projects, Vaughn could see a high level of success. Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report even predicts that he will be Milwaukee’s breakout star in the second half of the season:
“Vaughn hit just .189 with a 47 OPS+ and minus-1.8 WAR for the White Sox this season before the Brewers acquired him in a deal that sent Aaron Civale the other way. The 27-year-old was initially sent to Triple-A, but he made his Brewers debut on July 7, and he went 6-for-14 with two home runs and 10 RBI in 16 plate appearances before the break. He has long been viewed as a change of scenery candidate, and now gets a chance to make an impact for a contender.”
With Hoskins expected to be out for over a month, Vaughn will certainly get plenty of opportunities to help the Brewers make a push for a high seed in the postseason.
While he will probably not hit .350 for the rest of the year, if he can continue to drive in runs at a high clip, he could be exactly what the Brewers need on offense.
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