Tony La Russa Explains Why Andrew Vaughn is Out of Lineup on Sunday

After splitting Saturday's doubleheader, the Chicago White Sox will look to ride that momentum to another victory against the Cleveland Guardians on Sunday. They'll have to grab this victory without Andrew Vaughn in the lineup, however.

Manager Tony La Russa explained why his starting DH/OF will not be in the mix.

Andrew Vaughn Lineup

La Russa indicated this isn't a response to injury, but rather a way of ensuring Vaughn's health. According to White Sox insider Vinnie Duber, this was a recommendation from the team's training staff.

White Sox News

"Sometimes you need freshness of mind, and sometimes you need freshness of body. The case here, it's freshness of body. The guy's not going to go out there when he's all tight and hurt, and he plays and pulls something, tears something. What's the point? Believe me, if there wasn't a good reason, Andrew's as good a hitter as we have in our lineup, he'd be in the lineup. There's a good reason."

- Tony La Russa

La Russa's reasoning makes sense, but that's doesn't shorten the impact of Vaughn's absence. The 24-year-old slugger is slashing .298/.345/.462 this season with 10 home runs and 49 RBIs. His 49 RBIs rank second on the team.

Vaughn played all three of Chicago's previous games in the outfield, including both of Saturday's doubleheader. It's simply a rest day, although the White Sox don't exactly have the luxury of making careful decisions down the stretch.

The White Sox trail by 4.0 games in the AL Central standings and will need to rack up every win possible in order to jump into the postseason. For now, the White Sox hold +4500 odds to win the 2022 World Series on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.