SURPRISE, Ariz. — Andrew Vaughn is making a good first impression at his first spring training.
The White Sox’ No. 3 overall pick in the draft last June homered against the Indians Friday and, playing first base, laid out to snag a hard liner hit to his left. Vaughn was drafted for his bat, so he’ll take whatever notice he receives with his glove, too.
“Defense is the other half of the game,” said Vaughn, considered by many as the best hitter available in the 2019 draft. “You can’t all be about offense. I’ve been working every day, just trying to get better, get my feet moving.”
Vaughn, who singled on an 0-2 pitch and hit into a fielder’s choice Saturday in the Sox’ Cactus League game against the Rangers, also has a home run, double and two walks in 10 plate appearances this spring. Manager Rick Renteria calls his approach “simple” and “fantastic.”
“He has a really good idea of what he wants to do,” Renteria said. “He can take an at-bat, and zone in. It’s clean, it’s quick. There’s not a whole lot of moving parts. He really understands what his body is doing. He can get to a pitch quickly, but it’s consistent. No panic.”
Vaughn won’t break camp with the team this year but it’s easy to envision him splitting time between first base and designated hitter with Jose Abreu in the next two seasons.
“It’s so humbling [being in camp],” said Vaughn, who batted .278/.384/.449 in rookie ball and two levels of Class A last summer. “Just to think I was playing college baseball [at Cal] last year and getting the opportunity to do this, it’s like nothing else.
“It was a pretty cool feeling to get the first one [homer], it was definitely nice.”
The 6-foot, 215-pound Vaughn keeps his head down, his eyes and ears open and doesn’t mince words when he talks.
“Soaking it all up and truly enjoying it,” he said.
Second baseman Nick Madrigal, the fourth overall pick in 2018, played at Winston-Salem, AA Birmingham and AAA Charlotte last season. A similar path for Vaughn can be expected for Vaughn this year.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Andrew Vaughn fouls off 0-2 pitch, then singles to center. <a href=”https://t.co/msg7usp5SW”>pic.twitter.com/msg7usp5SW</a></p>— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) <a href=”https://twitter.com/CST_soxvan/status/1233883474861256705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 29, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8”></script>
The back story on Edwin Encarnacion
Designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion reported progress on the tight low back that has sidelined him since Thursday.
“It’s getting better,” Encarnacion said. “It’s nothing to worry about, just want to make sure it’s right.”
Encarnacion, 37, said he hasn’t had back issues in the past. He first felt something four or five days ago, he said. He has been receiving treatment, and planned to swing a bat Saturday to test it and “we’ll go from there.”
“The main thing is, I want to be ready for Opening Day,” he said. “I don’t want to do something to make it worse.”
Encarnacion has time on his side with 26 days until the opener against the Royals in Chicago. He’d like to get 40 at-bats this spring.
This and that
Left-hander Jace Fry, who missed about a week with a sore low back, said he expects to pitch off a mound Sunday.
*Left-hander Gio Gonzalez is tentatively scheduled for his second bullpen Sunday.
