How far was Vogelbach’s home run hit? Mariners aren’t sure, but you can see where it landed
It’s not quite a plaque or statue, but the home run Mariners slugger Daniel Vogelbach launched into the upper deck in right field in Seattle’s series opener against Texas, was commemorated Tuesday afternoon at T-Mobile Park — with an orange cone and some yellow caution tape.
“One heads up, there was a Vogey sighting up on the third deck today,” Mariners manager Scott Servais joked during his pregame press conference. “I don’t know if he wanted to put a star up on his seat, or what the deal was.”
Whether or not it was actually Vogelbach who garnished a seat just behind the right field foul pole — it was more likely his teammates — with the vibrant decorations is up for speculation, but it certainly gave spectators a chance to see just how far that home run flew Monday night, during a 6-2 win that snapped a six-game losing losing streak for the Mariners.
With MLB Statcast, which tracks home run distance, down Monday night, there’s no way to be sure exactly how far the ball traveled, or how high it’s trajectory was — it cleared the top of the foul pole. Mariners center fielder Mallex Smith gave his estimate.
“Way back,” Smith said. “Interesting thing about that is he did it earlier in BP. Third deck, and then followed it up with the game, so he’s not just a five o’clock hitter.”
With Seattle clinging to a one-run lead in the seventh inning, Vogelbach crushed the two-out, two-run homer off of Rangers reliever Jose Leclerc, which was upheld upon replay review after Texas challenged whether the ball was fair.
“It was just a curveball over the plate, and I was able to ride it out and keep it fair,” Vogelbach said. “I’m just happy that I could drive two runs in and put a little insurance on the board for us. ... It was just high, and I’m thankful that after replay it stayed and was two runs for us.”
Vogelbach has a team-leading 15 homers, and that particular shot is believed to be the third home run to ever reach the third deck in right field at T-Mobile Park in a game, and the first ever by a Mariners player. Los Angeles Angels’ Mo Vaughn was the first to hit one out there off of Gil Meche in 1999, the year the park opened, and Toronto’s Carlos Delgado took Arthur Rhodes to the upper deck in 2001.
“When it’s warmer here the ball does carry,” Servais said. “In batting practice (Monday), Vogey hit one ball up in the upper deck and I was like, ‘Wow, the ball is just jumping.’ He’s like, ‘I figured something out.’ He figured something out, I guess.
“But, for the ball to go over the top of the foul pole like that, that’s some kind of special power. He hit the crap out of it.”
Vogelbach has been tinkering with his swing recently and trying not to rush at the plate. He’s hit six of his homers in the past two weeks.
“Vogey has a good idea of what he’s doing at the plate, there’s no question about that,” Servais said. “The one thing in his swing he’s able to do is he can ride balls out. He’s on plane for a long time. Other guys are kind of in and out of the zone, you see that with other hitters, Vogey can ride it out is what I like to call it. Your timing doesn’t have to be perfect, but when he is on time he’s got big power, and we certainly saw it (Monday) night.”
DRAFT APPROACHING
Mariners Director of Amateur Scouting Scott Hunter was on site Tuesday to discuss the upcoming MLB Draft, which begins Monday. Seattle has five picks in the first four rounds (20, 59, 76, 97, 126), including four in the top 100.
“It’s exciting for us because it’s an opportunity for our scouts and our organization to make a little bit bigger impact than what we’ve done over the last couple years,” Hunter said.
Hunter said there is an opportunity for the Mariners to make an impact with higher picks, and further improve the depth of the farm system. He said the Mariners are open to any players who could make their organization better, whether it’s high school or college players.
“I know when I first got here our minor-league system was a little barren, and my goal, and our organization and our staff’s goal was to kind of stabilize that,” Hunter said. “I think we’re getting to a spot now where not only are we stabilizing it, we’re seeing some guys move through the system and approaching the big leagues in a little bit faster fashion, that we may be able to take some risks on some younger guys that have a little more time on their learning curve.”
DAY OFF FOR HANIGER
Mariners right fielder Mitch Haniger had a day off Tuesday to get a mental and physical break, Servais said, acknowledging Haniger doesn’t miss many games.
“He doesn’t,” Servais said. “I’m guessing he’s watching some video or in the cage or doing something right now. But, sometimes if you just sit and watch the game once in a while, it does recharge the batteries a little bit.”
Haniger has strung together productive performances in spots this season, but has struggled with consistency at the plate. He has hit 7-for-37 (.189) with 13 strikeouts in his past 10 games, including going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and a walk Monday night.
“We’ve seen throughout this time here Mitch has been streaky,” Servais said. “And when it’s good, it’s really good, and it’s usually good for extended periods of time. It’s part of the game. We’ve always talked about his swing, and he’s got a lot of moving parts, and the timing needs to be right and whatnot, but I’m not worried about Mitch at all. Just give him a blow today and recharge.”
STRICKLAND PROGRESSING
Mariners closer Hunter Strickland, on the 60-day injured list with a lat strain, is getting closer to a return. Once he returns to throwing off the mound, which could be later this week, Servais estimates Strickland could be back in a matter of weeks.
Servais said Strickland would likely throw multiple extended bullpens, and live BP, and make some rehab appearances, with days off in between.
“You map that out, and it’s probably a couple-week workup,” Servais said. “We’ll wait and see how he feels when he starts throwing in games. ... He’s been around a little bit. He knows his body really well.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2019 at 5:42 PM.
