2025 MVBrewers #10: Andrew Vaughn

Another newcomer closes out our 2025 rankings

Summarized by AI ⓘ

What is the story about?

After more than a month of voting, we’ve reached the end of our 2025 MVBrewers rankings. Closing out our group of 10 is first baseman Andrew Vaughn, another midseason addition and the fourth consecutive newcomer to close out our list, coming in behind Quinn Priester, Caleb Durbin, and Abner Uribe (who has been with the Brewers for three years but made his debut in these rankings in 2025). Vaughn garnered eight votes as of Monday morning, followed by four votes for rookie Isaac Collins, two votes for Aaron

Ashby, and one vote for Chad Patrick.

Vaughn, 27, was a former third-overall pick by the White Sox back in 2019 out of California. He debuted in 2021 before having the best season of his young career in 2023, hitting .258/.314/.429 with 21 homers, 80 RBIs, and 67 runs scored across 152 games. After a slight step back in 2024, he came out of the gates in 2025 really struggling, hitting just .189/.218/.314 with five homers, 19 RBIs, and nine runs over 48 games before being demoted to Triple-A.

Stuck in purgatory with the Charlotte Knights, Vaughn was then swapped for a dissatisfied Aaron Civale in mid-June, and he reported to Triple-A Nashville. Rhys Hoskins then went down with an injury in early July, and it was Vaughn’s time to shine.

He made his Brewers debut on July 7 against the Dodgers and got things started with a bang, hitting a three-run homer off Yoshinobu Yamamoto to give the Crew a quick 3-0 lead. He wouldn’t slow down from there.

After totaling -0.5 bWAR over 610 games (parts of five seasons) in Chicago, Vaughn racked up 1.3 bWAR in just 64 games with Milwaukee, hitting .308/.375/.493 with nine homers, 14 doubles, 46 RBIs, and 26 runs.

Each of his top four games by WPA this season came in July, topped by a 2-for-4 game with a pair of doubles and four RBIs in Milwaukee’s 6-5 comeback win against the Nationals, in which they scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth (including a game-tying two-run double by Vaughn).

He wasn’t able to maintain that level of success in the postseason, picking up just four hits in 30 at-bats (.154/.267/.385 line), though he did hit a pair of big homers against the Cubs in the NLDS.

The first of those came in Game 2, as the Brewers trailed 3-0 in the first inning. Cubs starter Shota Imanaga quickly got into trouble in the bottom of the inning, however, and Vaughn stepped up with two runners on and two outs. He hit a towering fly ball out to left, which promptly landed in the bleachers to knot the game up at 3-3. The Brewers would go on to win that one 7-3.

In a winner-take-all Game 5 later that week, the Brewers were tied 1-1 going into the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs in the inning and Colin Rea on the bump, Vaughn hit a liner to left, which had just enough carry to get over the wall and give Milwaukee a 2-1 lead. That’s all they’d need, as Brice Turang tacked on another solo homer later en route to a 3-1 win and series victory.

Even with his disappointing stint in Chicago, Vaughn’s Baseball Savant page is filled with red. He ranked in the top quarter of the league in xwOBA (.346), xBA (.275), xSLG (.465), average exit velocity (91.6 mph), barrel rate (12.0%), hard-hit rate (47.7%), launch angle sweet-spot rate (38.4%), and squared-up rate (32.0%).

Thank you to everyone who participated in voting this year! Before I wrap things up, I’d like to take a look at some honorable mentions and some players who you may have forgotten played for Milwaukee this season.

Honorable Mentions

Our honorable mentions includes a trio of rookies in a season filled with strong rookie performances for Milwaukee. Isaac Collins, Chad Patrick, and Jacob Misiorowski each garnered a few NL Rookie of the Year votes, as Collins finished fourth, Patrick finished seventh, and Misiorowski finished 11th.

Collins, who was red hot until late August, still hit .263/.368/.411 with nine homers, 54 RBIs, 56 runs, 16 steals, and 2.1 bWAR over 130 games. Patrick was a mostly first-half player, as he lost his rotation spot upon Brandon Woodruff’s return in July. Even so, he pitched to a solid 3.53 ERA, 3.53 FIP, and 127 strikeouts across 119 2/3 innings. Misiorowski started hot, cooled off, and finished hot in the postseason. Across 66 innings, he pitched to a 4.36 ERA, 3.62 FIP, and 87 strikeouts.

The other three honorable mentions are all veteran pitchers, as Brandon Woodruff, Trevor Megill, and Aaron Ashby all pitched well enough to garner some votes during this process. Woodruff, who, as mentioned above, made his long-awaited return in July, pitched to a solid 3.20 ERA, 3.17 FIP, and 83 strikeouts over 64 2/3 innings over the two-ish months he was healthy.

Megill, who turned 32 over the weekend, had the best year of his career, appearing in a career-high 50 games as Milwaukee’s primary closer. Across 47 innings, he pitched to a 2.49 ERA, 2.50 FIP, and 60 strikeouts with 30 saves.

Ashby, 27, also turned in the best year of his career after struggling to gain traction. Over a career-high 43 games, Ashby totaled 66 2/3 innings with a 2.16 ERA, 2.70 FIP, and 76 strikeouts with three saves.