As Luke wrote this morning, several Cubs prospects offered a nice showing in the minor league All-Star Games taking place yesterday.
One of those players was Dan Vogelbach, who earned his way into the Southern League All-Star Game with a .285/.400/.425 line, and a walk rate (16.4%) that nearly matched his strikeout rate (21.8%). He still hasn’t quite shown off the prodigious power he was expected to have by this point in his career, though he did put some of it on display in the All-Star Game:
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Did you see where that pitch was, and where the ball ended up? The camera angle makes it a little difficult to see, but the pitch was up at Vogelbach’s shoulders – or maybe even higher – and on the inner half – or maybe even inside – of the plate. Somehow he gets the barrel up and gets around on it quickly enough to yank it. And he doesn’t just slap it, he crushes it. That ball just kept going and going, easily clearing the onlookers in right, who couldn’t even seem to figure out where the ball wound up.
Vogelbach’s future with the Cubs’ organization is unclear – he’s a 1B/DH guy, about to reach AAA, and is eligible for the Rule 5 after this season – but here’s hoping he keeps on raking and gives the Cubs (and himself) some options, maybe as soon as next month.