All I ever Vaughn-ted

Andrew Vaughn (CWS): 4-5, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI.

Andrew Vaughn made his Major League debut last season at the age of 23 for the White Sox. He played a large chunk of the season, getting 469 plate appearances over 127 games. His production was…okay. He slashed .235/.309/.396 with a 94 wRC+ and 15 home runs. Just like the minors, he did not strike out too often with only a 21.5% K rate (not shabby for a 23-year-old rookie). All signs pointed up for Vaughn with nearly a full season under his belt coming into his age-24 season. And he’s produced.

After batting near the back of the lineup for the first couple of weeks, Vaughn moved up to the two hole. However, not long after, a bruised hand sidelined him for two weeks. Since his return, he’s been a bit up and down with some solid stretches of multi-hit games to a few big 0-for streaks. But last night, Vaughn crushed the ball. He had four hits, two for extra bases, and three hard hits including a 405-foot homer. He now has six on the year and is slashing .291/.339/.509. He may not walk often but he is striking out under 20% with a 47.8% hard hit rate. His excellent contact skills and power combo will make him a force at the plate. The main aspect missing from his game is plate discipline. He doesn’t take many walks (only one since the return from the IL) and swings away, but at least he makes good contact.

Vaughn will continue to get plenty of playing time moving around the field from outfield to first and DH, and he even has an appearance at second.

Let’s see how the other hitters did Tuesday:

Alejandro Kirk (TOR): 3-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI.

Kirk is essentially splitting time behind the plate with Danny Jansen since he returned from the IL. With that, there have been a few pinch hit and DH appearances but he’s getting his at bats. And that is important because he’s been one of the better hitting catchers this season, slashing .304/.382/.432. With those two home runs (his second and third on the season), he finally separated his on base and slugging by a decent amount of points. He also has an excellent 8.3% K rate with a 40% hard hit rate. As long as he’s playing, he should be rostered.

Matt Olson (ATL): 4-5, 2 2B, HR, R, 4 RBI.

I was literally thinking yesterday how I haven’t heard too much of Matt Olson this season and now I get a chance to dig in! He annihilated the ball yesterday, ripping four hard hits including a 391-foot home run. He added two other doubles over 110 MPH. He is hitting the ball nearly as hard as last year and walking a tad more, he just hasn’t gotten the ball in the air. His FB% is under 20%, while it has been hovering around 30% his whole career. A few too many ground balls may be an issue but the rest of his batting profile has been phenomenal.

Jonathan Schoop (DET): 2-7, HR, R, 4 RBI, BB. 

Game two of the double header was a little more kind to Schoop where he added his fifth dinger of the year after an 0-for in game 1. Like the rest of the Tigers’ offense, Schoop’s bat has disappeared. He is hitting under .200, his max EV is nowhere close to the max from all his previous seasons, and his HR/FB rate is about half his career rate. It is difficult to consider any Tiger at this point in the season.

Victor Caratini (MIL): 2-3, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB.

What has gotten into this man? A home run in his last three starts with four runs and six RBIs. He is still very clearly the guy behind Omar Narváez in the depth chart (nearly half the plate appearances so far this season) so I cannot recommend anything beyond watching from afar.

Max Kepler (MIN): 3-4, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB.

Kepler got the start in the first game of the double header, raked, and then was out for the second. He is still making his way back from quad injury so playing two full games would be a tough go for him. But he did show he is healthy enough to smack the ball around. Kepler had four hard hit balls, three for hits and one a 323-foot double. When he has been playing, he’s been his usual self. A walk rate north of 10%, a K rate under 20%, an average below .250, and a 40ish % hard hit rate. One major difference this year is his fly ball rate is down nearly 10 percentage points. Otherwise, he’s a solid offensive producer in the Twins lineup.

Jose Trevino (NYY): 3-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI.

Trevino is back again after his appearance in last week’s Batter’s Box. And nothing has changed. This was his fourth game since last week and he’s only had 11 plate appearances in that span. Trevino won’t get nearly enough time behind the dish to warrant a fantasy add.

Taylor Trammell (SEA): 3-4, 2 2B, R, 4 RBI.

Trammell was called up about ten days ago after Abraham Toro hit the IL. This 24-year-old has almost 200 career plate appearances and struggled heavily in his initial time last year. He sported a K rate north of 40% with a 73 wRC+. In his first 22 plate appearances of 2022, he is slashing .353/.429/.706 with a home run and a 13.6% walk rate. His strikeout rate is a solid 22.7% as well. He is worth keeping an eye on as he’s known to steal a few bases in the minors. If he can get keep getting on base, that would be a major asset.

Mark Canha (NYM): 4-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI.

The entire Mets’ offense seems nearly unstoppable right now, and Canha was a big part of yesterday’s onslaught. He led off for the Mets adding four hits, all hard hits, including a 101.6 MPH double. He’s slashing .307/.376/.407 so far this year with a K rate under 20%. He is not hitting the ball hard (34.2% hard hit rate with a 107.8 max EV) but that’s Canha’s standard. His fly ball rate and hard hit rate are a bit lower than usual though and with a .343 BABIP, it looks like it will be difficult for him to continue this kind of success.

Adolis García (TEX): 2-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, SB.

García smoked a 440-foot bomb while also adding a stolen base late in the game. He broke out in a big way last year with 31 homers and 16 stolen bases despite only a 100 wRC+. This year has been more of the same. Eight homers and five steals with a wRC+ around 100. He’s hitting only .227 but has cut his strikeout rate by four percentage points to get below 30%. The rest of his batting profile continues to be similar to his breakout year last season.

Patrick Wisdom (CHC): 2-4, HR, R, RBI, BB, SB.

Wisdom is one of the most extreme hitters out there. He is absolutely crushing the ball with a 56.8% hard hit rate but is still striking out nearly 40% of the time. He’s hitting .235 but somehow has a .500 slugging. With yesterday’s late inning 400-foot homer, Wisdom now has 11 on the year, still decently behind last year’s pace but well within a successful season. If you can swallow the terrible average, he’ll still provide excellent counting stats and toss in a steal every now and then.

 

Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)