The Cleveland Guardians recently announced Stephen Vogt as their new manager.
They spent the last decade calling Terry Francona their manager, so Vogt has some pretty big shoes to fill.
Still, he is not there to be Francona: he is there to lead the Guardians back to the postseason under his own philosophy and with his own personality.
Vogt was presented as the new Guards skipper on Friday, and he got to try the uniform for the first time.
Bally Sports Cleveland has the video.
Stephen Vogt dons a @CleGuardians uniform for the first time. 🤝 #ForTheLand pic.twitter.com/rUQbY2r8hN
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) November 10, 2023
Vogt was a major league catcher for a decade until retiring in 2022.
He was always regarded for having a good baseball mind and for having incredible people skills.
Those communication skills will help him get the message to the players.
Vogt doesn’t have experience as a manager, but acted as the Seattle Mariners bullpen and quality control coach this past season.
The reviews and comments around the league were very positive.
There aren’t too many specifics about Vogt’s managerial style for obvious reasons, but he won the Catfish Hunter Award for being the Oakland Athletics’ most inspirational player for three consecutive seasons.
That’s the kind of impact he can have over a group of people.
If he can get the best out of the Guardians roster and get everybody to fight for a common goal, there is enough talent on the team to pursue a spot in the playoffs.
Now, the ball is in the Guardians’ court: they need to make the offense at least a decent unit for this team to succeed.
Leave a Reply