Dan Vogelbach
Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 2011 and then traded to the Seattle Mariners, all Vogelbach has done is professional baseball is rake. He has been a well above average hitter at every stop in the minor leagues where his lowest wRC+ at any level was 126 at High-A in 2014. He has posted walk rates higher than his strikeout rates at many of his stops and when he didn’t still, hestill kept it close to a 1:1 ratio.
The uphill factor for Vogelbach has been his body type. At 6-foot, 250lbs, he is built like a tank and will likely never contribute much in the way of defensive value and may be best served as a DH. That skill set isn’t highly sought after by teams these days, so for Vogelbach to be successful he is going to have to hit a ton.
Well, “VogelUNIT” has done just that so far for the Mariners so far in the 2019 MLB season. So far he has hit 5 dingers, is walking more than he strikes out, and has already been worth 0.9 WAR over 24 plate appearances.
The key here is 24 PAs, that is a tiny sample but there’s encouraging signs in his performance. Vogelbach has already surpassed his 2018 mark for home runs when he hit 4. The most exciting aspect and a sign of potential breakout can be found in his StatCast profile. In 2018, Vogelbach had an average exit velocity of 92.4 and a launch angle of 10.1°.
This year, his exit velocity is 98.8, now that will, of course, come back to reality as will everyone else’s. All of Vogelbach’s homers have been crushed with the slowest being a 104.5 MPH shot to the left field bleachers. The important part is his launch angle, which has increased to 19.1° and may show a new approach to be more power oriented. Vogelbach was always considered a contact over power guy but his intent at the plate seems to be shifting.
Vogelbach is forcing his way into more playing time with his bat so far. He will never return a top prospect in a trade but he can still be a dangerous and valuable bat in the lineup.
The DH in the NL seems imminent which will eventually open up 15 more spots for Vogelbach to rake at. We have to let things play out but with each bomb he hits, the legend of Vogelbach grows.