Will Andrew Vaughn Swing His Way Back Into a Full-Time Job?

[Jack Stern]

Image courtesy of © Erik Williams-Imagn Images

Since returning to play after a fractured left hamate bone put him on the shelf for a month, Andrew Vaughn has once again been a productive middle-of-the-order bat for the Brewers. In 109 plate appearances, Vaughn has slashed .354/.431/.531. Among Milwaukee hitters with at least 100 plate appearances, his 172 wRC+ is the best—no surprise, since only Yordan Alvarez and Nick Kurtz have him beat, league-wide.

Despite that productivity, he hasn’t been a mainstay in the lineup. Since his return from the injured list on May 4, Vaughn has only started about half of the Brewers’ games against a right-handed pitcher—14 of 27, to be exact. In many of those games, he’s functioned instead as a weapon off the bench, already setting a new career high with eight pinch-hit appearances this year.

Those limited opportunities are because Vaughn’s overall line is misleading, and he hasn’t quite been the same hitter he was last summer. According to Baseball Prospectus, his 108 DRC+ is still above average, but it's still much less sexy than his results. Baseball Savant tells the same story, as Vaughn’s .355 xwOBA is far lower than his .422 wOBA. Last season, Vaughn had a 117 DRC+ and .377 xwOBA after being traded from the White Sox to the Brewers.

Furthermore, as fellow first baseman Jake Bauers has emerged as one of the club’s best hitters (both by process and by results), Vaughn has performed more like a platoon bat so far this year. He’s mashed lefties to the tune of a 1.438 OPS and 294 wRC+. A 117 DRC+ and .427 xwOBA don’t fully support that performance, but either way, Vaughn is doing good work against southpaws. He’s been more pedestrian against righties, posting a .693 OPS, 99 wRC+, 102 DRC+, and .323 xwOBA.

Because those numbers all come from small samples, they don’t mean much on their own. However, Vaughn clearly has not found his best swing against right-handers. Since returning from that hamate injury (which can reduce the pop in a player’s swing for a few weeks past technical full recovery), his bat speed has dipped, particularly against righties.

Season	Bat Speed (RHP)	Bat Speed (LHP)
2025 (MIL)	70.9	71.6
2026	68.8	71.1

Bat speed isn’t everything. Hitting is not just about how fast your bat is traveling when you meet the ball, but when and where your bat makes contact. Vaughn has always had below-average bat speed, but above-average bat control. That’s helped him continue to produce this year, as he’s whiffing less and hitting more line drives.

A slower swing has been part of an issue against same-handed pitchers, though. Without his usual bat speed, Vaughn has been late more often on right-handed fastballs.

Thanks to that good bat control, Vaughn is still lining up his bat with the ball well enough, even when he’s late. That means he can still shoot the ball to right field; his rate of opposite field contact against right-handed fastballs is up to a career-high 41.4% this year. However, those kinds of hits are mostly singles and the occasional double. That’s how Vaughn is still hitting a decent .274 against righties this year, but only slugging .355.

It’s the opposite against right-handed breaking balls. Vaughn is early more often on those pitches, leading to more whiffs and softer contact.

Since returning to play, Vaughn’s swing has looked diminished, and his timing has been caught in between without the platoon advantage. With Bauers earning everyday at-bats and Garrett Mitchell and Sal Frelick swinging the bat better of late, Vaughn has not been a leading candidate for the greatest share of playing time against right-handers. The good news is that while his bat speed remains lower than last season, it has ticked up over the last couple of weeks.

If Vaughn looks more like the hitter he was last season—the one who was regularly on time, allowing him to use the middle of the field and pull enough well-struck balls into the gap—it won’t take much for Pat Murphy to grant him more starts. He drew back-to-back starts against righties last week, with Bauers sliding to the outfield.

“He’s a professional hitter, and we need him in there,” Murphy said over the weekend. “The only way to get them both in there is [for] Jake to go out and play the outfield, which he’s done quite well.”

Still, Vaughn has to show a bit more to secure more of that playing time. Plenty of season remains for him to do so.

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[JimmyC]

I thought Vaughn has looked really good this year, except for power.

Bauers should play left, and Chourio move to center or right. Frelick is the weak offensive outfield link, I’m sorry to say. Because I really like his play…

[biedergb]

Don't hamate injuries take like 6 months to fully recover from in terms of power - is the bat speed a surrogate for that?
(or was that the 'old school' thought on hamate injuries, as that prognosis and timetable was recollection from 90s/00s)

[jay87shot]

1) DH Yeli 2)RF Chourio 3)2B Turang 4)C Contreras 5)LF Bauers 6) 1B Vaughn 7)CF Lara/Mitchell 8) SS Pratt 9) 3B Hamilton/Ortiz (maybe Jett or Made at the end of the year). That should be one of the best lineups in the league.

Vauhgn is hitting .354/.431/.531 I get that is inflated but you find a way to get the .354 batting average into the lineup. I wouldnt mind trying him at 3B (very rarely) if it helps. 

[igor67]

Miz days look like a good time to play him at 3rd. Looking at the Spray chart I counted 9 ground balls total in the 3rd base area (I had to guess from the chart about where the line between 3rd and SS ends up). Just looking at OBP difference between Vaughn and Hamilton. If you assume just 3 Plate appearances per start while Miz is in. Hamilton gets on base 13 times compared to 18 for Vaughn. So yes it looks like the offense/defense trade off there makes sense.