Neither Stephen Vogt or any of his teammates was particularly surprised to see Vogt, a lefty, get his first start of the season against a left-handed pitcher, in this case the Angels Hector Santiago, Tuesday.
As we discussed in this space last night addressing the strong possibility of this move, Vogt has been the A’s hottest hitter, having the club’s best numbers in batting average (.366), homers (four) and RBIs (12).
What he hasn’t done is play anywhere but catcher. Manager Bob Melvin moved him in at first base, a position he played 45 times last year when he was injured and couldn’t get behind the plate.