Browsing: Vaughn

MILWAUKEE — Andrew Vaughn and Jacob Misiorowski were both in the minor leagues with separate organizations at the start of June, one on the way up and the other on the way down.

Four months later, they played key roles in helping the Milwaukee Brewers reach the National League Championship Series.

Vaughn hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth inning that put Milwaukee ahead for good Saturday night in its 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs in the decisive Game 5 of their NL Division Series. Misiorowski earned his second win of the series by allowing just one run over four innings in relief.

“Itâ€s insane,†Misiorowski said during the Brewers†clubhouse celebration. “Itâ€s everything Iâ€ve worked for, and itâ€s a lot of fun.â€

Their arrivals in Milwaukee were indirectly connected.

When Misiorowski was promoted from the minor leagues in June, he took Aaron Civaleâ€s spot in Milwaukeeâ€s rotation. Civale reacted to the bullpen assignment by saying he wouldnâ€t mind getting traded to a team that would allow him to continue starting.

The Brewers then sent Civale to the Chicago White Sox in a deal that brought them Vaughn. Civale ended up finishing the season with the Cubs, and he pitched 4 1/3 shutout innings in this series.

At the time of the trade, there was little reason to believe Vaughn would become a major factor for Milwaukee this season. He had batted .189 with a .218 on-base percentage and .314 slugging percentage in 48 games with the White Sox, who eventually sent him to the minor leagues. The Brewers initially kept him in the minors after acquiring him.

But he got called back up to the majors July 7 after Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins went on the injured list with a sprained left thumb. Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy greeted Vaughn by letting him know he would probably get sent right back to the minors if he continued chasing pitches outside the strike zone.

Vaughn homered off Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto in his first at-bat with the Brewers and improved his chase rate in making a remarkable transformation. He batted .308 with a .375 on-base percentage and .493 slugging percentage in 64 games with Milwaukee.

“This guyâ€s a gamer,†Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said. “Heâ€s been through a lot, and heâ€s failed, just like all of us. Weâ€ve all failed in this sport. If you havenâ€t, you havenâ€t been doing it long enough. So weâ€ve all failed. For that guy to come in here and be himself and put the team on his back at times this year is really awesome.â€

Vaughn offered simple reasons for his dramatic improvement.

“Change of scenery, being around some different coaches, different stuff and just playing free,†he said.

Vaughn put the Brewers ahead Saturday by connecting on a 3-2 pitch from Colin Rea and hitting a 383-foot drive over the left-field wall with two outs in the fourth. That cleared the way for Misiorowski to earn the Game 5 win.

Misiorowski had his own ups and downs this season.

The flamethrowing right-hander burst onto the scene and made such an impact that he earned an All-Star Game selection after making just five starts, a stretch that included winning head-to-head pitching matchups with Cy Young Award favorite Paul Skenes and three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw.

Then the rookie went on the injured lift with a left tibia bruise. He returned in mid-August but allowed 22 runs over 32 2/3 innings the rest of the season, a slump that led to concern about how much the Brewers could trust the excitable right-hander in a postseason setting.

“We werenâ€t easy on him,†Murphy said. “I didnâ€t spend a lot of time trying to pump him up. I wanted to find out what he had, because I knew with that kind of stuff, he could really help us.â€

He helped them tremendously.

Misiorowski threw three shutout innings in a Game 2 victory while reaching a peak velocity of 104.3 mph and hitting at least 100 mph on 31 of his 57 pitches. Misiorowski entered in the second inning of Game 5 and immediately gave up a tying homer to Seiya Suzuki, but the 23-year-old silenced the Cubs from there.

He struck out three while allowing three hits and just the one run. He averaged 100.3 mph on his 17 fastballs, with 10 of them reaching at least 100 mph.

And for the first time in his brief major league career, Misiorowski didnâ€t walk a single batter.

Misiorowskiâ€s stellar NLDS performance virtually assures he will play a vital role when the Brewers face the Los Angeles Dodgers in the best-of-seven National League Championship Series beginning Monday.

“You see how much Miz cares,†Arnold said. “Thatâ€s what itâ€s about. In a game like tonight, you can see heâ€s bleeding blue and gold.â€

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MILWAUKEE – Before the 2025 season began, Andrew Vaughn still hadnâ€t lived up to the lofty expectations bestowed upon him as the third overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft.

Eight months later, Vaughn is the poster child for a change of scenery.

Vaughn belted the go-ahead solo shot against Cubs right-hander Colin Rea in the fourth inning of the Brewers†3-1 clincher in Game 5 of the National League Division Series on Saturday night at American Family Field.

His second home run of the NLDS – what he called the biggest swing of his life – came on a middle-middle cutter that he drilled over the left-field wall to cap a seven-pitch at-bat.

“I blacked out,†Vaughn said. “I felt like I was on the clouds just trying to make sure I hit every base.â€

Well before Vaughn could imagine clutch postseason home runs, he slugged 77 taters for the White Sox from 2021-25. But Chicago optioned a struggling Vaughn (career-worst .532 OPS) to Triple-A Charlotte on May 23 for a reset, where he played for 15 games.

While Vaughn tried to regain his confidence in the White Sox system, right-hander Aaron Civale, then with the Brewers, wanted to remain in Milwaukeeâ€s rotation or be traded to another team that would use him as a starter. On June 13, the White Sox and Brewers struck a deal: Milwaukee sent Civale and cash to Chicago for Vaughn, who has one more year of club control via arbitration.

Just like that, Vaughn went from one of the worst teams in baseball to the best. He still remembers that initial call from the Brewers, one that included a simple enough message: “Just play free, be myself, go back to my roots and just have fun playing the game. Nothing huge. I think the best message was, ‘Swing at strikes, take balls and just be better at that.â€â€

“He fits our mantra as well,†general manager Matt Arnold said. “This guy’s a gamer, and he’s been through a lot, and he’s failed, just like all of us, right? We’ve all failed in this sport. If you haven’t, you haven’t been doing it long enough, and so we’ve all failed. And for that guy to come in here and be himself and put the team on his back at times this year is really awesome.â€

But Vaughnâ€s Brewers journey didnâ€t start at American Family Field. Milwaukee assigned him to Triple-A Nashville, where he played 15 games, and didnâ€t recall him until July 7 – when first baseman Rhys Hoskins landed on the injured list with a sprained left thumb.

“I didn’t say much to him,†Brewers manager Pat Murphy recalled. “I just said, ‘Hey, great to have you here. Here’s the deal: You’ll go back to Triple-A if you chase.†So I don’t know if he even understood what I was talking about, or even listened to it. I just said, ‘Hey, if you start chasing, you’re going back to Triple-A.â€

“He got there at noon, and the game was at 7. I said, ‘And by the way, you’re starting tonight. And some guy named [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto [is pitching], I think he’s pretty good, so take a look.â€â€

Vaughn didnâ€t go deep over his final 35 regular-season games, or in Game 1 of the NLDS (a span totaling 146 plate appearances). But he snapped out of it with a three-run blast in an historic first inning in a Game 2 victory, and once again in Saturdayâ€s win, which also featured long balls from William Contreras and Brice Turang.

“He’s just a great dude,†said Christian Yelich, Milwaukeeâ€s longest-tenured position player. “This game’s about perseverance and just really, really proud of him.â€

“The journey has been kind of crazy, but not taking anything for granted,†Vaughn said. “The opportunity to be with this group, it’s changed my life, honestly. And just grateful for it.â€

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