Oakland Athletics’ Have Unique Luxury In Stephen Vogt’s Absence: Josh Phegley
With the news that Stephen Vogt will be briefly absent from the Oakland Athletics after sustaining that horrifying foul-tip injury to the groin on Sunday, it looks like Josh Phegley will become the primary catcher for a few games, with rookie September call-up Carson Blair filling in behind the plate as well.
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If the team was still contending, this is an instance where the A’s would have had a luxury that many teams do not possess: two fairly-interchangeable catchers.
Vogt won the everyday job out of Spring Training and has done a stellar job behind the plate, but Phegley is not exactly a bad backstop himself. Despite a rough patch after the All-Star Break, Vogt is still batting .271/.349/.467, with 18 homers and 67 RBIs. Phegley, on the other hand, has played in fewer games but is batting .256/.307/.457, although he has just eight home runs and 31 RBIs.
Vogt’s .816 OPS and Phegley’s .764 OPS are not so far apart that there would be the typical drop-off in offense that comes with moving to a backup catcher rather than the everyday catcher. However, even though their offense is very similar, it’s their comparable defense that truly makes a difference.
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With Phegley behind the plate, pitchers have a 4.05 ERA. Vogt’s is much better at 3.60, but take into account that he has caught the majority of games for Sonny Gray and Jesse Hahn – that’s going to give him a superior ERA to anyone else.
That difference is made up when stolen bases are taken into account. Phegley has thrown out 40 percent of runners this season, compared to just 33 percent for Vogt. In fact, Phegley has thrown out nearly half of all runners who try to advance to second base on his watch, eliminating 16 would-be base-stealers and allowing just 17 to reach safely. Vogt’s numbers are much less impressive when it comes to stolen bases, although it appears he handles the pitching staff better in terms of game-calling.
The A’s will certainly miss Vogt’s bat in the lineup, but there are many teams who have a much greater drop-off between their first and second string catcher. Phegley will be able to fill in nicely until Vogt is able to return.