Andrew Vaughn has been a fascinating case study of what’s possible when one departs the White Sox organization. After four and a half years of failing to live up to his top prospect expectations, he was traded to Milwaukee and has already reached a career peak. In his first month as a Brewer, he posted a ridiculous 212 wRC+. Clearly, an unsustainable level of performance for him, fans were waiting for his numbers to return to reality.
He did that in August, posting a meager 61 wRC+ from August 8th to August 31st. It was enough of a slip to wonder if he was hitting a wall just in time for Rhys Hoskins to come and save the day. After all, he wasn’t expected to be much more than a stopgap at the position, and he had already accomplished far more than expected. If he had never gotten another at-bat for the rest of the season, the move to acquire him would still be seen as a stroke of genius.
However, it seems that Vaughn isn’t ready to give up on his big league dreams just yet. He has come surging back in September, comfortably leading all bats in the lineup with a 196 wRC+ for the month. He’s making a very strong case to be not just a part of the postseason roster but one of the core offensive pillars. Unpacking his offensive contributions over this span is even more interesting.
His aforementioned slump saw him lose a lot of his pop at the plate, at least on paper. He slugged just .375 over that span, partly due to bad luck and partly due to opposing pitchers becoming wise to his antics. Now, he has become less reliant on the long ball and is more than willing to simply put the ball in play as long as it becomes a hit of some sort. He still hasn’t hit a home run since August 15th, but has instead slashed .444/.475/.583 with five doubles so far this month.
Better baseball is rarely a bad thing, but one has to wonder whether this hot streak could do more harm than good. The Brewers still lead all MLB teams in wins, and although they haven’t gotten there quite yet, they have a 99.8% chance of winning the division for the third consecutive year, so it’s not like each sliver of added offense is impactful. Instead, Vaughn’s career renaissance could be getting in the way of Rhys Hoskins getting ramped back up.
If you haven’t noticed, Hoskins was reinstated from the injured list on September 9th after being sidelined with a sprained left thumb. It’s completely understandable if you weren’t aware that he had returned, since he honestly hasn’t played much. He has accumulated a whopping four at-bats over four games since returning from the injured list. So while Vaughn has been powering the Brewers’ offense, their second-highest paid player has been riding the pine.
When October arrives, does Pat Murphy plan to set the lineup this way? Will Jake Bauers see more playing time than Hoskins? To his credit, Bauers is also having a great month with a 177 wRC+, but will his and/or Vaughn’s recent success be carried over into the postseason?
The only real sample we have of Hoskins’ post-injury is his rehab assignment, where he posted a respectable .842 over 62 plate appearances with the Sounds, but we don’t have enough information to make an informed conclusion of how he’ll play against big league pitching, especially against teams of a playoff caliber. To me, it seems like he has already taken a backseat. Pat Murphy has a small but tight-knit circle of trust, and once someone falls out of it, it’s difficult for them to claw their way back in (see: Tobias Myers).
There’s little more than a week of games left in the regular season, and in many ways, Milwaukee has left few questions unanswered this year. Deciding who will man first base and what the role of Rhys Hoskins is may be the team’s final order of business before the playoffs begin.