Brewers reportedly giving recent trade acquisition another shot in MLB

In the fourth inning of Saturday afternoon's contest with the Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins exited the game with an injured left thumb. The injury occurred on a ground out to shortstop from Marlins first baseman Eric Wagaman. After making a backhand stop, Brewers shortstop Joey Ortiz fired a wayward throw over to first base that pulled Hoskins off the bag to his left. Hoskins made the catch and tagged out the 6'4", 210-pound Wagaman, but in doing so suffered a Grade 2 sprain of the thumb on his glove hand.

Though it initially seemed like Hoskins might avoid the injured list, after his X-rays came back negative, Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealed on Sunday afternoon that Hoskins will spend a hopefully brief time on the 10-day IL. However, the move does mean that he will miss the rest of the first half, with the All-Star Break set to begin a week from today.

Brewers reportedly calling up Andrew Vaughn to fill the void left by injury to Rhys Hoskins

In Hoskins' stead, the Brewers are reportedly calling up recent trade acquisition Andrew Vaughn, as confirmed by several MLB insiders including Robert Murray of Fansided.com and Francys Romero of beisbolfr.com.

As Romero points out, Vaughn's time in the major leagues this year hasn't gone well, but there are several reasons to be optimistic about what he can bring to the Brewers' lineup. First, as pointed out in an article for Reviewing the Brew by Sam Phalen at the time of the Brewers' Aaron Civale for Andrew Vaughn swap, Vaughn has been incredibly unlucky at the plate in MLB this season. His expected batting average (.258) is nearly 70 points higher than his actual batting average (.189), and his expected slugging percentage (.461) is nearly 60 points higher than his actual slugging percentage (.402).

Phalen also pointed out that Vaughn is typically a slow starter. Last season, he was sitting at an OPS of .577 at the end of May, but in June he posted a .933 OPS, with six home runs. This season, Vaughn has had a similar turnaround after the calendar flipped to June, only this time it came in Triple-A. Since being traded to the Brewers on June 13, Vaughn has posted a slash line of .259/.338/.500 with seven extra-base hits in just 16 games with the Nashville Sounds.

Vaughn should get plenty of opportunities with Hoskins on the IL, and though the latter carried the Brewers offense through the first month and a half of the season, his bat has cooled significantly as of late. In fact, over his last 30 games, Hoskins is slashing just .167/.261/.363. Hopefully, he comes back from the IL better than ever, and in the meantime, his replacement, Vaughn, injects some energy into the Brewers' inconsistent offense.