GLENDALE, Ariz. – Two weeks into spring training, and the White Sox are still in that getting-to-know-you stage.
The clubhouse is crowded with 71 players in major league camp. There are new veterans at various stages of their careers, some trying to keep careers going, and prospects getting their first taste of a big-league environment.
On the last day of camp, March 24, 26 of them will know they’re headed to Chicago for the season opener against the Tigers on March 27 at Rate Field.
First baseman Andrew Vaughn will be one of them, barring a trade. Not that his name is circulating in rumor mills, but anything is possible for a Sox team rebuilding after a 121-loss season that Vaughn endured with 23 others returning from the 40-man roster who were there at one time or another in 2024.
“Just have to turn the page,” Vaughn said Monday. “That’s the biggest thing.”
Like everyone else, Vaughn has his own career to worry about. The No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 draft, he’ll earn $5.85 million on a deal he agreed to in January to avoid arbitration. These next two seasons are big years for him as he enters free agency for the first time after 2026.
“I feel good,” Vaughn said. “The biggest thing is locking down my routine and getting into a place to build every single day we’re here. Go out there and get one percent better every day.”
Vaughn led the worst hitting team in baseball in several categories, including games (149), at-bats (570), hits (140), doubles (30), RBI (70), runs (55), extra-base hjts (50) and total bases (229).
FanGraphs is projecting better numbers in 2025, so there’s that. Vaughn hit .281/.327/.455 against lefties, a marked improvement from the year before, and he finished well overall, batting .279/.323/.443j over his last 47 games compared to .230/.285/.382 over his last 102.
“He was dealing with some stuff early but kudos to him, he was inside putting in the work,” hitting coach Marcus Thames said of Vaughn, who finished at .246/.297/.402 over a career-high 619 plate appearances. “He was inside busting his butt to be the player he can be. He went through a phase where his moves got a little out of whack but he got it back together and finished up pretty good.”
Thames saw Vaughn’s numbers slipping and saw a hitter “chasing production instead of being the hitter he can be. We have to get him back to being Andrew.”
“It’s always in the back of your mind,” Vaughn said of the numbers. “But we see it every day when we step into the box. It’s up there on the scoreboard. You have to really flush it out and take it one at-bat at a time.
“Just simplify. Not trying to go up there and do too much. Taking good at-bats and trying hit the ball hard.”
Keeping it basic, in other words. While he’s at it, going into his fifth season and already among “the old guard” at 27 on April 3, Vaughn is being ushered in to a greater leadership role. He’s more a lead by example than a vocal type, but he wants to make himself available to younger players.
“We have a lot of young guys in here, so be there for guys who haven’t been there before,” he said. “Kind of give them my experiences, how it was coming up.
“The biggest thing is we have so many new guys, we have to learn about each other. Guys’ backgrounds, where they come from. Why they like to play this game. Anything like that.”
That’s what spring training is for.
“Anything I can possibly do to help.”
Opening Day is 31 days away.