TORONTO — If you forgot that Daniel Vogelbach was on the Blue Jays' major-league roster, you could be forgiven. The designated hitter hasn't seen much game action so far in 2024.
Vogelbach was in the lineup for Wednesday's series finale against the Kansas City Royals, though, collecting a double in four at-bats out of the cleanup spot during the 6-1 loss.
The rare start was his first in seven days and just his fifth of the season.
"On paper, there's probably more spots to get him in than we have gotten him,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider, noting the strong production of Justin Turner has blocked Vogelbach from DH reps.
"I think for Vogey, in a perfect world, he's facing starters multiple times and getting on base and doing some damage. So again, there's more times that he probably could have been in there, based on who we're facing, and it hasn't worked out for him."
Vogelbach has struggled during the limited playing time he's received so far. His double off Royals reliever Nick Anderson to the right centre-field gap was just his third hit in 27 plate appearances this season. He’s slashing .136/.296/.227 and has been used exclusively against right-handed pitchers, with only one plate appearance coming against a lefty.
With the first month of the campaign now in the rear-view, it is fair to wonder about Vogelbach’s grasp on a roster spot at this point. Yes, he hasn’t been given ample at-bats to get himself right, but, at the same time, his numbers are among the worst of any hitter on the team.
That lack of production is certainly the opposite of what the Blue Jays envisioned when they signed Vogelbach during spring training believing that his power from the left side could be useful off the bench. He owns a career .800 OPS against right-handers to go along with 74 homers.
Three weeks after Vogelbach joined the Blue Jays, though, the club signed Joey Votto, creating a potential roster redundancy with the two profiling as similar left-handed-hitting first-base-designated-hitter types. However, Schneider said in camp that the team's message to Vogelbach was not to worry about his fit on the roster and instead just focus on himself.
Vogelbach did that and impressed the club during the spring while Votto ultimately suffered a right ankle injury that sidelined him, inherently resolving the logjam.
The 31-year-old Vogelbach is no stranger to coming off the bench. He's appeared as a substitute in 133 of his 582 career MLB games (23 per cent).
"You go into it thinking what it is now doesn't mean that's how it's going to be going forward," Vogelbach said of his mental approach. "You don't know. In this game we don't predict the future. We don't predict what happens. We predict how we work and predict how we come to the field every day and put our work in. So, you just come in and be a good teammate, put your head down and work hard."
Vogelbach has spoken often about his desire to be a good teammate. It's something in which the nine-year veteran places a great deal of pride.
His definition of a good teammate?
"Being the same guy every day," he said. "We can't control much in this game. We can control being the same guy every day. Being there for your teammates and, whatever your personality is, however you want to play, you got to be that every single day."
When Vogelbach was a young player coming up with the Mariners, he looked up to veterans Kyle Seager and Jay Bruce.
"Those guys were really the same guys every day," he said. "You never know if they were 0-for-20 or they were 20-for-20.
"The best leaders in the world just don't have to tell you," added Vogelbach. "They show you how they go about their business every day. You would never know if they're struggling or you never know what was going on because they're the same guy every single day."
To his credit, Vogelbach has been embodying that ethos with the Blue Jays. Despite his struggles, he never appears sullen around his teammates and can often be seen in the clubhouse or on the field prior to games chatting and laughing with them.
Nonetheless, good teammate or not, Vogelbach is being counted on to contribute more offensively. The Blue Jays’ offence desperately needs hitters to step up and while Wednesday represented a step in the right direction for Vogelbach, it’ll be worth watching to see if he can build on that in the days ahead.
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