Brewers must decide if Vogelbach fits roster
PHOENIX – It would be perfectly understandable if before going to sleep each night, Daniel Vogelbach said a prayer in hopes of the designated hitter being added to the National League game before the season starts on April 1.
Though it could impact his status with the club coming out of spring training, the Milwaukee Brewers’ big slugger insists he is not obsessing over the fact that baseball officials have not been able to agree on using the DH again in the NL, as they did during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
“If I’m being 100% honest, I haven’t even thought about it,” Vogelbach insisted Monday morning on a Zoom session with reporters. “It’s just something that I can’t really control, and if I start worrying about stuff
I can’t control, then I lose focus on what I can control, and this spring wouldn’t have been any good at all, and it would have just spiraled.”
An admirable approach but there is no question that Vogelbach’s action will be greatly curtailed this season without atbats in the DH role. The only position he plays in the field is first base, and the
Brewers are committing to Keston Hiura there as he makes the switch from second base to accommodate the addition of Gold Glover Kolten Wong.
Otherwise, the 6-foot, 270-pound Vogelbach would be relegated to an occasional start at first base and serving as a left-handed bat off the bench, not an easy role. That’s assuming the Brewers choose to commit a spot on their 26-man roster to the left-handed hitter, who signed a one-year deal for $1.4 million in December.
“I think there’s multiple players affected by (having no DH), but certainly that’s where the bulk of his at-bats were last year,” manager Craig Counsell said. “As much as anything, it’s another hitter in the lineup and he’s a good hitter. It’s definitely a place to get him in.
“You’d see Christian (Yelich) there a lot, as well, which makes sense for the way our outfield lines up. But these are the rules. It’s a National League game again. There’s good in that for us. Obviously, this is a player it’s not great for, so we’ll have to figure that out.”
The DH, part of American League play since being adopted as a “one-year experiment” in 1973, was added to the NL last year after the coronavirus pandemic shut down the game for 31⁄2 months, followed by a rushed three-week summer camp before a 60-game season.
The thinking was that pitchers would be more at risk of injuries having to bat after only three weeks of preparation. There are health concerns this year for pitchers, also, mostly because of going back to a 162-game schedule and the increased workloads. But the players union and management were unable to compromise on using the DH again in 2021, leaving teams to prepare without it.
The Brewers saw how Vogelbach could affect games in the DH role after claiming him off waivers from Toronto with three weeks remaining last season. He batted .328 with four home runs and 12 runs batted in over 19 games, including 16 starts as the DH, helping push the team into the postseason.
That strong finish eased some of the angst of an awful 20 games combined with Seattle and Toronto, during which Vogelbach batted .088 (5 for 57) with two homers and four RBI.
“Like I’ve been saying, with the short season last year, everything gets magnified,” said Vogelbach, who was traded by the Mariners to the Blue Jays on Aug. 23. “Whether it’s right, wrong, that’s just how it was last year. I didn’t get off to a good start the first couple weeks with Seattle, but I always believe I can hit. I believe that if I would have stayed with Seattle, by the end of the year I would have been hitting just as I did with Milwaukee.
“But I believe everything happens for a reason and you’re put where you’re supposed to be put, and ending up in Milwaukee was the best thing that’s happened for me. I got to play with a great group of guys. I got hot and got to go to the playoffs. Just felt welcomed and it was a place like home by the end of the year.”
Vogelbach has focused on improving his defense at first base this spring with the realization that he isn’t expected to play a lot there. He has seen 23 innings of action there in the Cactus League, over five games.
“In that sense, this has been really good for him in that he’s forced to understand that this is real. He’s going to have to play first base this year,” Counsell said. “He’s been real diligent about his practice. He’s probably played as many games at first base this spring as he has previous springs because of the lack of a DH.
“That’s only going to help. He’s done a decent job over there. If there’s no DH, he will have to play first base to be on the roster.”
In terms of offensive production, it had been a relatively quiet spring for Vogelbach until the Brewers played Cleveland in a Cactus League game Monday afternoon in Goodyear. After walking in his first trip to the plate, he blasted his first home run, a two-run shot to rightcenter off Triston McKenzie in the fourth inning.
Power hitters often have high strikeout rates, but Vogelbach has whiffed just three times while drawing six walks.
“I don’t try to look at hits or no hits, because you can go through a week where you don’t find a barrel and you get a lot of hits, and that’s not what you’re looking for early on,” Vogelbach said. “My results are more about taking my walks, not striking out and when I do swing, swing at a good pitch and get it on the barrel.
“I feel like I’ve done that during the spring. I feel good. I feel like my eyes are where they need to be, and obviously as the spring keeps going your timing gets better and better.”
This is where it stands for Vogelbach with just over a week remaining in spring training. He is out of minor-league options, so the club’s decision makers could opt to keep him and see how productive he can be without DH at-bats. Or perhaps they’ll decide the fit just isn’t there.
“I try not to look at it that way at all,” Vogelbach said.
“I’m coming every day and DH, no DH, doing what I can to help the team win. I believe if there’s a DH or not a DH, I can help the team.”