Giants Baseball Insider

Former SF Giants catcher Stephen Vogt announces decision to retire after this season

Former SF Giants catcher Stephen Vogt announced that this season with the Oakland Athletics will be his last as a player.

Marc Delucchi

Former SF Giants catcher Stephen Vogt announces decision to retire after this season
Former SF Giants catcher Stephen Vogt announces decision to retire after this season /
In this story:

Earlier this week, Oakland Athletics catcher and first baseman Stephen Vogt announced his plans to retire at the end of this season. Vogt's career has spanned 10 major-league seasons and includes several notable highlights. Vogt played for the SF Giants in 2019 and was one of the team's most productive hitters that season.

The Tampa Bay Rays selected Vogt in the 12th round of the 2007 MLB draft out of Azusa Pacific University. Vogt already had an excellent approach at the plate, which helped him work walks and limit his strikeouts throughout his career, alongside impressive defensive ability behind the plate.

However, Vogt suffered a catastrophic shoulder injury during the 2009 season diving headfirst into first base. He was unable to throw for nearly a year after the injury and faced questions about whether his career could continue. Eventually, Vogt worked his way back to the field but would never recover his full arm strength.

Vogt slowly worked his way up Tampa Bay's minor-league ranks, reaching the majors in 2007. His first big-league season was far from spectacular, though. In fact, Vogt recorded zero hits in 25 MLB at-bats across multiple stints that year.

Oakland Athletics first baseman Stephen Vogt (21) hits a three run RBI triple against the Seattle Mariners. (2022)
Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

The Rays designated Vogt for assignment the following March, and he was traded to the A's for cash considerations. This time, Vogt posted a more acceptable .252/.295/.400 triple-slash in his brief big-league playing time, carving out a role for himself in Oakland going forward.

Vogt emerged as the A's starting catcher for the next three years. From 2014-2016, Vogt hit .261/.322/.425 with 41 home runs in 357 games with the Athletics and earned two All-Star game selections.

The A's traded Vogt to the Brewers at the 2017 trade deadline. He finished the season with Milwaukee but was unable to help their cause in 2018 after suffering another serious injury to his throwing shoulder. The Brewers designated him for assignment the subsequent offseason and Vogt became a free agent and inked a deal with the Giants.

One of the first position players signed to a contract by Farhan Zaidi, Vogt arguably had the best offensive season of his career in San Francisco. Giants manager Bruce Bochy utilized Vogt as a backup catcher to Buster Posey and a late-game pinch hitter. Vogt appeared in 99 games that season and hit .263/.314/.490 with 24 doubles and 10 home runs. He recorded the best single-season slugging percentage of his career that year.

Coming off one of the better offensive seasons of his career, Vogt inked a deal with the Diamondbacks that offseason. Vogt spent most of the next three seasons in Arizona before he was traded to Atlanta at the 2021 deadline, where he helped Atlanta go on to win the 2022 World Series victory.

Having turned 37 last November, Vogt was likely aware that 2022 would be his final season as a player. A Visalia native, Vogt decided to return to Oakland for one last season with the A's before hanging up his cleats.

In his 10-year MLB career, Stephen Vogt amassed 559 hits, 121 doubles, and 81 home runs alongside a .239/.302/.406 triple-slash. Now, as the 2022 season nears a conclusion, the former SF Giants catcher is on the cusp of entering the next phase of his life.

Published
Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

Home/San Francisco Giants History