Vogt started at designated hitter Wednesday and went 1-for-5. He is batting .355 with four homers and 18 RBIs. Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics’ three-catcher attack of Derek Norris, John Jaso and Stephen Vogt is taking a bit of a hit.
Vogt has battled a painful bone bruise in his right foot since late June when he hit a base awkwardly in a road game against the Miami Marlins. He avoided the disabled list to this point, but he hasn’t started a game at catcher since July 3 and he hasn’t made an appearance behind the plate since July 7.
“It’s been going on for a while,” Vogt said Wednesday before Oakland’s 9-7 victory over the Houston Astros. “I’m just doing what I can to get through it.”
Vogt spent most of his time this month either serving as the designated hitter or first baseman, although he also has played in the outfield. Crouching behind the plate puts too much pressure on his injured foot.
“He’s had a bone bruise before, and he aggravated it,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “We’re hoping at some point in time he can get back there, and in an emergency I could still probably use him, but it’s something we’re trying to stay away from.”
Vogt started at designated hitter Wednesday and went 1-for-5. He is batting .355 with four homers and 18 RBIs.
“I want to catch, but we’ve got two pretty good catchers,” Vogt said of Norris and Jaso. “So I’m just fortunate to be here still and part of the team. We’ll see if we can get this thing better soon.”
Melvin said Vogt is making some progress.
“I think whenever I can DH him or something along those lines, hopefully it can get that much better,” Melvin said. “Those (bone bruises) don’t go away very quickly. We certainly don’t want to DL him, and he doesn’t want to go on the disabled list. He just kind of continues to play through it.”
