Brewers catcher Stephen Vogt met with Dr. Neal ElAttrache to have another examination of his ailing shoulder and received an unfortunate but largely expected diagnosis, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com (Twitter links). He’ll require season-ending shoulder surgery that could threaten his career.
The 33-year-old Vogt was emotional last week when talking to reporters about the injury, which he sustained when making a throw to third base on a recent minor league rehab assignment. Vogt’s shoulder is said to have damage in each of the rotator cuff, labrum and anterior capsule, making the surgical procedure he’ll require extremely complex.
It’ll be the second major shoulder surgery of Vogt’s career, and the veteran backstop acknowledged last week that having been through a similar process before, there are “big implications” he’s being forced to think about. “I felt everything go wrong that could go wrong with a shoulder,” Vogt said at the time.
Vogt, commonly cited as a significant clubhouse fixture for both the Athletics and the Brewers (who acquired him last summer) is by all accounts beloved by both teammates and fans, as evidenced by the popular “I believe in Stephen Vogt” chants at O.Co Coliseum and the corresponding t-shirts created by fans. A two-time All-Star, Vogt is a career .251/.310/.416 hitter in parts of six big league seasons and slashed .254/.281/.508 with eight homers in just 129 plate appearances for the Brewers down the stretch last season.
[Related: Milwaukee Brewers depth chart]
With Vogt now decidedly out of the catching mix in Milwaukee, the Brewers will continue to rely on Manny Pina and Jett Bandy behind the plate. However, neither player has produced much offensively this season, which could push the Brewers to eventually give a longer look to either Jacob Nottingham or Christian Bethancourt. Giving Bethancourt a look would require a 40-man roster move for the Brewers. Vogt is already on the 60-day DL, so he couldn’t be transferred there as a means of clearing room.
Time to give Nottingham the backup role. He can hit. Any defense will be a bonus.
You do realize that hitting is the least important aspect of the position right? Thames can hit a little, should he be behind the dish? I mean any defense would be a bonus right?
You do realize Nottingham has experience behind the dish. You do realize Thames does not. You do realize that is not a fair comparison.
That’s a bummer. He didn’t make the bigs until he was 27. Now he will likely never even get a free agent contract, not that he would have broke the bank, but a few more million to a guy who has earned around 8 in his career could have been nice for him and his family.
Agreed! It is a shame. He has a career line of .304/.366/.466 in the minors. His defense always lagged, but he deserved an earlier call to the majors.
I’m not so sure he would’ve gotten another MLB contract though after this year. I love the guy but being 34 going into next year I just can’t see it….look at Lucroy this year even and the trouble he had getting a deal. Best of luck in what I assume will be retirement.
Guess he better get used to that van down by the river…..
I wonder if his catching career would be over, but he could slide over to 1B and manage there without throwing to much, Many catchers have made the transition for multiple reasons (Hatteburg, Mauer, Napoli come to mind). His bat still has value and he already has over 500 innings logged at the position,
He’s done
Maybe we can trade Orf , Wilkerson and Betancourt to Seattle for Zunino
So you want to trade for a worse hitting, 3 year younger Manny Pina? Think if they want a catcher they can aim a little higher than that.