GOODYEAR, AZ. – The last time Stephen Vogt had filled out a lineup card, he was an eighth grader on his middle school baseball team. His friend’s mother coached the team and unknowingly had him peak into the future. Vogt hit himself leadoff, naturally.
These days, he’s putting a bit more thought into lineups. Vogt, who won his only World Series as a catcher with the 2021 Braves, is the Guardians’ new manager at age 39. He replaced future Hall of Famer Terry Francona, who retired.
Vogt’s Braves experience was brief but sweet. Those who remember the ups and downs of the 2021 regular season might recall the Braves’ seemingly endless carousel of catchers during Travis d’Arnaud’s 86-game absence due to a thumb injury. The team acquired Vogt from Arizona in July seeking stability other veterans hadn’t provided.
Then 36 years old, Vogt played in 26 games, hitting .167/.241/.244 in 78 at-bats. His season ended prematurely due to injury, but he nonetheless earned his only championship ring. He also learned greatly from Braves manager Brian Snitker over that time.
“I knew from a pretty early age that I wanted to coach,” Vogt told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “As my career progressed, I wanted to manage. I was able to pick Snit’s brain and all the other managers I had. Just watching Snit’s demeanor through a World Series run, it didn’t change. It was the same as the day I got there on July 18. It was the same Nov. 2 when we won it. He was the same guy, same demeanor, never wavered.
“It was just really admirable for me as a player, especially someone like me who watches that kind of stuff closely. I had some great conversations with him, I learned a lot from him. Couldn’t be more thankful that I got the chance to play for him.”
This was a long time coming for Vogt. Former teammates and coaches rave about him, echoing the same sentiment: It didn’t take much time around Vogt to know managing was in his future.
“Every time he walks in or goes somewhere, he’s positive,” former Braves first baseman and current Dodger Freddie Freeman told The AJC. “He’s someone who puts a smile on your face when you see him. Like, I was playing against him (in a spring training game) and I was waving to him. Even though we only spent a couple months together, he was still around at the end. It all makes sense, him getting a manager job so quickly. Some people are just baseball people. They know what they’re doing.
“He knows baseball. He knows how to have relationships with players. He knew analytics. He knew everything that was going on. You could just tell his avenue was coaching. I didn’t know it was managing that fast, but that’s just how bright a person he is.
Vogt is entering a good situation. The Guardians had finished top two in the generally weak American League Central for seven consecutive years before dropping to third in 2023. Despite Cleveland’s limited payroll, the franchise has five postseason appearances in the past eight years, including four division titles. Their lineup is anchored by third baseman Jose Ramirez, one of the more underappreciated All-Stars in today’s game. Ramirez, who’s signed long term, has finished top 10 in MVP voting in six of the past seven years, including five top-six finishes.
Cleveland should again contend in the AL Central, which has some improving younger clubs like Detroit and Kansas City but lacks a team perceived as excellent. Vogt should have a chance at the postseason in year 1.
“I’m very happy for him,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker, also a catcher in his playing days. “Kind of looked at him even when he was here as a player as a manager-in-the-making, really. I was really happy when he got that job. He’s a really good baseball guy. He gets it. He played the game, knows how tough it is. I’m sure he’ll be a great guy to play for.”
Vogt cherished his time under Snitker and it will have an influence on how he manages. During this string of six consecutive division titles, the Braves’ staff stayed mostly intact, earning consistent praise for how its developed players.
Snitker has always stressed staying out of his coaches’ way, allowing them to operate freely, and Vogt noticed.
“The thing I loved most about Snit is he let the coaches coach,” Vogt said. “He managed and I’m sure he coached the coaches behind the scenes, but as far as players went, he never talked to us about how we were playing. It was just go out and do your job and let the coaches do their jobs. That’s something I’ve really done here. These coaches are phenomenal. We have a great staff. I’m just trying to stay out of their way and let them do their job. That’s something I saw Snit, very intentional, doing.
“And just the way he loved us as players. He was so encouraging, so positive, every day Snit just has a smile on his face and goes out and lets you do your thing. That’s what I’m trying to do here.”
Vogt was an accomplished player, playing 10 seasons for the A’s, Diamondbacks, Rays, Giants, Braves and Brewers. He spent the majority of his career with Oakland, where he was twice an All-Star (2015-16) and completed his playing days in 2022 with the club.
His Braves teammates made quite the impression on him, too. The AJC asked Vogt what he learned from his Braves tenure that he’ll use in Cleveland.
“That every single day you need to work,” he said. “That’s the one thing, when you think about the Atlanta Braves, those guys play every day. They post. It started with Freddie. When your leader takes the field every single day, you’re expected to do that. We have that here with Josey. I do see some similarities. I think, for me, it’s understanding that that type of culture, that ‘I want to play every day,’ ‘I’m willing to work every day,’ ‘I’m going to do my job every day,’ that’s the type of culture that’s already been here, but we’re really instilling and pushing.”
While Vogt’s Braves career was disrupted by right-hip inflammation, he went out with a bang: Vogt homered twice against the Nationals before exiting that Sept. 9 contest with his season-ending injury. Those were his only two extra-base hits with the Braves.
“It was an incredible run, getting there when I did – it was right after the All-Star break – and being four games under .500, then getting to come into that clubhouse and – I was excited,” Vogt said. “I was 36 and never had a chance to win up to that point. It’d been a while. Just getting in there and seeing how the Braves players, coaches went about their business. It’s a winning culture. So just bringing some new energy into that room was a lot of fun.”
Earlier in the day he was injured, Vogt was doing his acclaimed referee impersonations for Braves teammates, Freeman recalled. He had the clubhouse cackling. But after the injury, Freeman joked with Vogt that he was “too old to be doing referee stuff now.”
Vogt, like outfielder Joc Pederson, was the type of person who helped keep the Braves loose as they revived their season and ultimately won their second title since moving to Atlanta.
“You always have these teammates, it doesn’t matter how short a period or how long, that have that everlasting – like, two, three years later, you’re still talking about certain guys,” Freeman said.
“Managing, to me, obviously you have to make the right moves, but it’s having to handle 26 personalities of players, plus the coaching staff, and to be able to do that, and for them to believe he’s able to do that already, it makes so much sense from the time we were together. Everyone loves Stephen Vogt. You don’t have a whole section in Oakland saying, ‘We believe in Stephen Vogt’ for no reason. Certain guys just have it. And Stephen has it.”
