Just think if Daniel Vogelbach had this kind of spring last year.
His competition for the starting first base job with Danny Valencia wouldn’t have been cut so short – with almost two weeks remaining in spring training when he was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma.
Vogelbach hit .228/.313/.333 last spring, including a 1-for-24 slump with the Mariners citing too many adjustments he had to make at the plate and at first base to justify them including him on the big league club.
Now? He’s hitting .383/.500/.830 in 19 games this spring. Granted, it’s spring and good spring numbers don’t always mean good regular-season numbers and bad spring numbers don’t always mean bad regular-season ones.