Vaughn playing left field for Sox in major league debut

Andrew Vaughn is playing left field in his major league debut, something no one would've expected a little more than a week ago.

But with the injury to Eloy Jiménez, Vaughn has been tabbed as one of the fill-ins in the White Sox outfield. He's never played the position before, save a couple Cactus League games and during a Team USA tournament as a teenager, and yet that's where he'll line up in his first big league game.

Vaughn is unsurprisingly welcoming of the challenge, and he seems to have brought the same calm, cool and collected approach to taking on this fielding assignment as he has at the plate, where he spent the spring doing everything he could to show he was ready for regular at-bats at the major league level, despite never having played above A-ball.

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The White Sox raved about that approach throughout the spring, and Vaughn backed it up with his offensive performance. But now he'll be tasked with not only adjusting to big league pitching as the White Sox start a season with championship expectations, but he'll be doing it while getting acclimated to a new position, as well.

Again, none of it seems to be bothering Vaughn, and that's part of the reason the White Sox have such confidence it will work out, at least on a part-time basis.

"You have to be comfortable being uncomfortable," he said last week. "I haven’t played too much outfield in my whole life, so just go out there and learn the ropes and just do my best and taking it one day at a time."

It might not be as black and white as Tony La Russa designating Vaughn his everyday left fielder, as evidenced by Vaughn not playing at all in the team's season-opening game Thursday night in Anaheim. Leury García got the Opening Day start in left, with Zack Collins at DH, the position Vaughn was ticketed for prior to the Jiménez injury.

Instead, La Russa could use a rotating cast in not just left field, but also at DH, catcher and first base, mixing and matching to fill four different positions on a daily basis. Yermín Mercedes got the start at DH on Friday.

Here's La Russa's lineup for the White Sox second game of the 2021 campaign:

1. Tim Anderson, SS

2. Luis Robert, CF

3. José Abreu, 1B

4. Yoán Moncada, 3B

5. Andrew Vaughn, LF

6. Yasmani Grandal, C

7. Adam Eaton, RF

8. Yermín Mercedes, DH

9. Nick Madrigal, 2B

Dallas Keuchel, P

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