MILWAUKEE — When Andrew Vaughn joined the Milwaukee Brewers with a chance to rejuvenate a career that had gone sideways, the message he received from his new team was simple.
If you chase, you won’t play.
Vaughn took that advice to heart, and suddenly the guy who was batting well below .200 for the first two months of the season is one of baseball’s hottest hitters.
His remarkable turnaround produced its biggest highlight yet as Vaughn hit a grand slam and had a career-high six RBIs in the Brewers’ 9-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Vaughn’s performance helped the Brewers extend their NL Central lead over Chicago to two games.
“It’s a special group here right now,” said Vaughn, who went 3 for 4. “We’re playing really good baseball. It’s fun to be a part of.”
Vaughn, 27, is batting .375 with a .439 on-base percentage, .771 slugging percentage, five homers and 21 RBIs in 15 games since joining the Brewers on July 7. The only player in the major leagues with more RBIs during that stretch is Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber.
“It’s been awesome,” teammate Jackson Chourio said through an interpreter. “The way he’s been able to help us out has just been spectacular. It’s just been inspiring to watch.”
Vaughn’s surge is particularly notable because he was struggling as much as just about any hitter in the game for much of the season.
After hitting a combined 72 homers for the Chicago White Sox from 2021-24, Vaughn batted just .189 with a .218 on-base percentage, five homers and 19 RBIs in 48 games before he got sent down to the minors.
Vaughn was still playing with Triple-A Charlotte when the Brewers acquired him in a June 13 trade that sent Aaron Civale to Chicago. The Brewers initially assigned Vaughn to their Triple-A team in Nashville, but they called him up when a thumb sprain sent first baseman Rhys Hoskins to the injured list.
Little did the Brewers know the guy they’d picked up from the minors would get on this kind of heater.
“The kid’s been unbelievable,” manager Pat Murphy said.
Murphy noted that Vaughn is swinging at the right pitches now. Vaughn concedes that wasn’t the case earlier when he was with the White Sox.
“Early in the year, I was hitting the ball hard, maybe swinging at some bad pitches,” Vaughn said. “Just trying to hone in on that, focus on getting my pitch to hit.”
Vaughn certainly found the right offering when he sent the first pitch he saw from Ryan Pressly over the left-field wall for his second career grand slam. Vaughn also drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the second and hit an RBI single in the fifth.
He has gone 8 of 15 over his last four games while helping the Brewers overcome their injury issues at first base. Jake Bauers joined Hoskins on the injured list July 20 with a left shoulder issue.
Yet the Brewers have kept on winning with Vaughn taking over at first.
Vaughn’s transformation at the plate is similar to the turnaround he’s encountered in the standings. After playing for last-place White Sox teams, he savors the opportunity to have a major role on a Brewers squad that has the best record in the majors.
“Winning’s fun, and we’ve been doing it a lot,” Vaughn said. “We want to keep it going.”
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