Former Brewers fans’ favorite first baseman left in search of a new home

Not many things went right for the Milwaukee Brewers offense during the Covid-shortened 2020 season. One of the few things that did was when the team got a first baseman who quickly endeared himself to the fans with his attacking prowess and large stature.

Daniel Vogelbach started the 2020 season with the Toronto Blue Jays before being designated for assignment starting in September and claimed by the Brewers. He would only play in 19 games with Milwaukee that year, but he would crush four home runs and two doubles while driving in 12 on his way to a .987 OPS in that short time.

Vogey would not repeat his success the following year, hitting eight doubles and nine home runs in 93 games with a .730 OPS, ultimately finishing the season on the injured list. With another former Blue Jay in Rowdy Tellez in tow at first base and performing at a higher level, Vogelbach would go undrafted the following offseason.

Vogelbach would bounce back and forth between the Pirates and Mets over the next two seasons, putting up decent numbers with both and playing a total of 234 games those two years. As a free agent for 2024, he would be brought back to Toronto’s organization on a minor league contract and make the team out of spring training.

Although not a full-time starter for the Blue Jays, Vogelbach saw plenty of playing time with Toronto this season, appearing in 31 of the team’s 68 games through June 12. Oddly enough, that last game was against the Brewers themselves, where he went 0-for-1 with a walk.

Unfortunately, Vogelbach was never able to quite hit the ground running with the Jays. In 79 at-bats, the first baseman hit just .186/.278/.300 and had just one home run while driving in eight. His 67 OPS+ was the lowest since his 2017 season, where he only played in 16 games.

That performance prompted Toronto, which has released several underperforming players in recent weeks, to designate the 31-year-old for assignment. When no other MLB team ultimately claimed him, the Blue Jays released him outright, making him a free agent.

Vogelbach was still able to produce in recent years, so there’s always a chance another team re-signs him to a minor league contract, hoping he hits the big time and earns another call-up to the majors. I hope he does, because a competition with Vogey in it is always more fun.