Vaughn settling into Sox camp ahead of contract year

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Lots of things during the first week of Spring Training will help build chemistry in the White Sox new clubhouse, like reps during batting practice or time in the weight room.

Thursday morning, it was the official team photo day. Sox players donned their shiny gameday uniforms for a bright and early 6:30 a.m. start time for individual pics, which can’t help but boost camaraderie.

“A little bit,” first baseman Andrew Vaughn laughed, shortly before changing back into practice duds to start morning workouts. “Laugh, have some jokes throwing around. It’s definitely early in the morning. A little early for a smile.”

The White Sox in January agreed to a one-year deal to avoid arbitration with Vaughn, who will earn $5.85 million in 2025, a jump from his $3.25 million salary last year. The third overall pick in the 2019 Draft posted a slash line of .246/.297/.402 over a career-high 619 plate appearances in ’24, with 19 homers, 30 doubles and 70 RBIs.

Amid a busy offseason before reporting to Glendale, Vaughn and his wife moved into a new home.

“It was one of the best things we’ve done,” he said. “I really enjoyed the offseason.”

Vaughn, who will turn 27 on April 3, is entering his fifth season on the South Side and is in a contract year as he makes a case for a long-term deal with free agency looming after 2025. The workhorse last season posted the seventh most at-bats among MLB first basemen (570), including 107 as DH.

This first week of camp, he says, is all about readjusting to a long season’s everyday grind.

“No matter what you do in the offseason, that first week will always catch up to you,” he said. “[Need to] get my feet back under me, get back in the baseball swing. Also we’ve got a lot of new faces around, so getting to know everybody. Just getting the team together.”

Also adjusting is left-hander Jared Shuster, who will start on the mound when the Sox open Cactus League play Saturday against the Cubs in Mesa.

The 25th overall Draft pick in 2020 is working to beef up his pitch count as he transitions from a setup role last season to starter mode in 2025.

“The goal right now is just to get in a good routine and get comfortable facing hitters again,” said Shuster, who made 39 appearances (four starts) with the Sox in 2024 after starting all 11 of his appearances as a rookie with the Braves in ’23.

Shuster was one of five players to arrive in Chicago in the November 2023 trade of lefty Aaron Bummer, and Sox coaches see him trading his bullpen spot for a starter role.

“The flexibility there and the versatility is really attractive, and we know he can help in different ways,” first-year Sox manager Will Venable said Thursday. “We’re gonna go into it with him starting and trying to stretch out to be a starter.”

With the Cactus League schedule opening Thursday as the Dodgers hosted the Cubs on the other side of the complex at Camelback Ranch, Sox players worked the practice fields at the other end, including Noah Schultz (No. 16 overall prospect) and Hagen Smith (No. 34).

The two top-ranked left-handed prospects in all of baseball each tossed live BP simultaneously on opposite practice fields. The 21-year-old Schultz, ranked first overall among southpaw prospects, threw smoke from his 6-foot-9 frame, and will make his spring debut Wednesday when he’s scheduled to come out of the bullpen as the Sox host the Padres.

“He was spinning it well, coming in with the fastball, and not a lot of great swings off him,” Venable said after Thursday’s live session.