Daniel Vogelbach


Daniel Taylor Vogelbach is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. He was drafted in the second round of the 2011 MLB draft by the Chicago Cubs. On July 20, 2016, Vogelbach was traded to the Seattle Mariners and made his MLB debut for them on September 12, 2016.

High school

Vogelbach attended Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers, Florida. He committed to play college baseball at the University of Florida. As a senior, he hit.551 with nine home runs and was The News-Press All-Area Baseball Player of the Year. At the time, listed at 5 feet 11 inches tall, he was also listed as weighing.

Professional career

Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs selected Vogelbach in the second round of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft. He made his professional debut with the Arizona League Cubs. In six games he hit.292/.370/.542 with a home run in 24 at bats. He started the 2012 season with the Arizona League Cubs and was promoted to the Boise Hawks during the season. At the time, he weighed over.
He finished the season hitting.322/.410/.641 with 17 home runs and 62 runs batted in over 245 at bats in 61 games. He started the 2013 season with the Kane County Cougars and was promoted to the Daytona Cubs near the end of the season. He finished the year hitting.284/.375/.449 with 19 home runs over 483 at bats in 131 games.
Prior to the 2014 season, he lost over to help improve his defense, and escape being labelled a "designated-hitter-only". In 2014, he batted.268 for the Daytona Cubs. The Cubs added him to their 40-man roster after the 2015 season.
Vogelbach began the 2016 season with the Iowa Cubs of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League.

Seattle Mariners

On July 20, 2016, the Cubs traded Vogelbach and Paul Blackburn to the Seattle Mariners for Mike Montgomery and Jordan Pries. 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.
The Mariners promoted Vogelbach to the major league roster on September 12, 2016. 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. The next night, he got his first big league start and first big league hit, a single to right in his third plate appearance. In 2016 he batted.083/.154/.183 in 8 games. In 2017, when playing for the Tacoma Rainers, 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 big 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. At the end of 2017, he batted.214/.290/.250 in 28 at bats.
On March 25, 2019, the Mariners announced that Vogelbach had made the Opening Day roster. In 2019 he batted.208/.341/.439 with 30 home runs and 76 RBIs. He was thrown the highest percentage of curveballs of all American League batters, and swung at the lowest percentage of all pitches of all major league batters.