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Daniel Taylor Vogelbach (born December 17, 1992) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was drafted in the second round of the 2011 MLB draft by the Chicago Cubs. In July 2016, Vogelbach was traded to the Seattle Mariners and made his MLB debut with them two months later. He has also played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Daniel Vogelbach
Vogelbach with the New York Mets in 2022
New York Mets – No. 32
First baseman / Designated Hitter
Born: (1992-12-17) December 17, 1992 (age 29) North Fort Myers, Florida
Bats: Left Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 12, 2016, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics (through 2022 season)
Batting average	.218
Home runs	67
Runs batted in	190
Teams
Seattle Mariners (2016–2020) Toronto Blue Jays (2020) Milwaukee Brewers (2020–2021) Pittsburgh Pirates (2022) New York Mets (2022–present)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star (2019)

Amateur career

Vogelbach attended Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers, Florida. He committed to play college baseball at the University of Florida.[1] As a senior in high school, he had a .551 batting average with nine home runs and was The News-Press All-Area Baseball Player of the Year.[2] At the time, he was listed at 5 feet 11 inches (1.80 m) tall and weighing 285 pounds (129 kg).[3]

Professional career

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs selected Vogelbach in the second round of the 2011 MLB draft.[4][5] He made his professional debut with the Arizona League Cubs. In six games, he had a .292 average with one home run in 24 at bats. In 2012, Vogelbach started the season with the Arizona League Cubs and was promoted to the Boise Hawks during the season. At the time, he weighed over 300 pounds (140 kg).[6] He finished the season with a slash line of .322/.410/.641 with 17 home runs and 62 runs batted in over 245 at bats in 61 games. In 2013, Vogelbach started the season with the Kane County Cougars and was promoted to the Daytona Cubs near the end of the season.[7] He finished the year with a .284/.375/.449 slash line with 19 home runs over 483 at bats in 131 games.[8]

Prior to the 2014 season, he lost over 30 pounds (14 kg) to help improve his defense, and escape being labelled a "designated-hitter-only".[9][10] In 2014, he batted .268 for the Daytona Cubs.[11] After the season, Cubs added him to their 40-man roster.[12] He played for the Tennessee Smokies of the Class AA Southern League in 2015.

In 2016, Vogelbach began the season with the Iowa Cubs of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL).

Seattle Mariners

On July 20, 2016, the Cubs traded Vogelbach and Paul Blackburn to the Seattle Mariners for Mike Montgomery and Jordan Pries.[13] The Mariners assigned him to the Tacoma Rainiers of the PCL, and promoted him to the major leagues on September 12, after the Rainiers were eliminated from the PCL postseason.[14][15] He made his major-league debut later that night as a pinch-hitter against the Los Angeles Angels, grounding into a fielder's choice in his first at bat.[16] The next night, he got the first start and first hit of his MLB career, recording a single to right in his third plate appearance.[17] In 2016, he accrued a .083/.154/.183 slash line in 8 games.[18]

In 2017, when playing for the Tacoma Rainiers, Vogelbach hit .290 with 17 home runs and 83 RBI. Vogelbach also participated in the Triple-A home run derby. He made it all the way to the final round before finally losing to Bryce Brentz of the Pawtucket Red Sox. In August 2017, Vogelbach was called up to the major leagues. He was used for the remainder of the season as a pinch hitter and back-up first baseman, as the Mariners already had Yonder Alonso and Danny Valencia covering first base duties. In MLB during 2017, he slashed .214/.290/.250 in 28 at bats.[19]

On March 25, 2019, the Mariners announced that Vogelbach had made their Opening Day roster.[20] In 2019, he had a slash line of .208/.341/.439 with 30 home runs and 76 RBIs. He was thrown the highest percentage of curveballs of all American League batters (13.2%), and swung at the lowest percentage of all pitches of all major league batters (34.1%).[21][22] Vogelbach represented the Mariners in the 2019 MLB All-Star Game on July 9.[23]

On August 19, 2020, Vogelbach was designated for assignment by the Mariners after he began the season batting 5-for-53 (.094) in 18 games.[19] Overall in parts of five seasons with Seattle, Vogelbach batted .196 with 36 home runs and 95 RBIs in 223 games.[19]

Toronto Blue Jays

On August 23, 2020, the Toronto Blue Jays acquired Vogelbach for cash considerations.[24] On September 1, 2020, Vogelbach was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays.[25] At the time of his designation, Vogelbach only had 4 hitless at-bats for the Blue Jays.[19]

Milwaukee Brewers

On September 3, 2020, Vogelbach was claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers.[26] In 19 games with the 2020 Brewers, Vogelbach slashed .328/.418/.569 with four home runs. He returned to the Brewers for 2021. On June 23, he was placed on the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain, was transferred to the 60-day injured list on August 22,[27] and was activated on September 1. For the 2021 season, he slashed .219/.349/.381 with 9 home runs and 24 RBIs in 93 games.[19] On November 30, Vogelbach was non-tendered by the Brewers, making him a free agent.[28]

Pittsburgh Pirates

On March 15, 2022, Vogelbach signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.[29] In 75 games with the Pirates, he batted .228 with 12 home runs and 34 RBIs.[19]

New York Mets

On July 22, 2022, the Pirates traded Vogelbach to the New York Mets for Colin Holderman.[30][31] He made his first appearance with the Mets on July 24, going 1-for-3 with a walk.[32] On August 3, 2022 Vogelbach hit his first home run as a Met, a grand slam off of Washington Nationals reliever Jordan Weems in Nationals Park, becoming the 11th Mets player to hit a grand slam as his first homerun with the team.[33]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
• Daniel Vogelbach on Twitter

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