Mariners’ Daniel Vogelbach hopes offseason work will help his defense at first base

PEORIA, Ariz. – Mariners manager Scott Servais made it clear last month that Daniel Vogelbach would need to show that he can play adequate Major League defense at first base if he is going to make the club. Team officials believe he will hit, but he has got to be able to field the position better than what they saw from him in his short time at the big-league level last year.

The first impressions in camp have been good.

“He’s certainly moving a lot better right now defensively around the bag,” Servais said Tuesday. “A lot more flexible, his hands are working better. You can tell he spent a lot of time this offseason working at it.”

For Vogelbach, there has always been offseason work. Lots of work. His brother, a former college quarterback, owns a gym in Fort Myers, Fla. and Vogelbach has spent much time there. But the work was different this year.

“This is the first offseason I really worked out with a purpose and a plan,” he said. “It was becoming more flexible, looser, all which would help me around the bag at first base with first-step quickness and the on-field work that Bogey (bench coach Tim Bogar) and I did at the end of the year.”

When Vogelbach came to the Mariners from the Cubs in the Mike Montgomery trade last July, the feeling was that his bat was ready for the big leagues. The glove, however, proved to be behind, which was shocking to some as first base had always been his position. Coming up in a National League organization, Vogelbach was going to have to play in the field, yet what the Mariners saw in September would suggest that the fielding was not much of a focus in his five years in the Cubs’ system.

When Vogelbach arrived in Seattle, Bogar went to work with him on a number of fundamentals that appeared to have been missed.

“It was the little things that got by,” Vogelbach answered when asked if anything Bogar said about the position was eye-opening. “Glove positioning, getting more free, being an athlete and not a robot. I am finally getting to that point and it feels good. Going over there and knowing and believing in myself makes things a lot better.”

The work continues, and it is not just Bogar that Vogelbach has looked to for help in the field. After a series of infield drills on Tuesday, Vogelbach sought out Kyle Seager to ask him a couple of questions.

“He’s done it right. He’s won a Gold Glove. Every year he is successful at the highest level,” Vogelbach said of Seager. “It was just the little things that he and I kind of talked about seeing if I am still doing and just pointing things out. Since the day I got called up last year, he has always been willing to help and willing to talk. I am going to take full advantage of that and continue to learn.”

Vogelbach is grateful that Seager has been supportive of him, particularly after what happened in his big-league debut in September, when his base-running error cost Seager a hit. Vogelbach missed second base while going from first to third on a line drive by Seager, which was scored as a fielder’s choice and not a hit after Vogelbach was called out.

“It could have gone two ways,” Vogelbach said with a laugh at the not-so-good memory. “He’s been great and I couldn’t be more thankful for that.”

To commemorate the base-running gaffe, Servais held what he called the “Vogelbach Drill” early in camp. The message: be sure to touch ’em all.

Some serious ribbing for a rookie, but Vogelbach can take it. After all, the veterans dressed him as Chris Farley from the “Saturday Night Live” Chippendales skit last year.

“There’s always things in life that are not going to go your way. Things could be worse for me,” Vogelbach pointed out. I’m living my dream. Being in this clubhouse with these guys is awesome and if that means taking some heat, sometimes you just roll with it.”

It’s an attitude Servais likes to see in the clubhouse.

“He has got a big personality,” Servais said. “He is a very good teammate, he wants to get to know his teammates. I think there is more to come there as he gets more comfortable.”

Vogelbach believes getting more comfortable at first base will be one of the keys to success there.

“I need to continue to be confident over there and trust myself that I am a good fielder and not doubting that,” he said. “I need to have the same confidence in the field that I have at the plate and continue to get better every day.”

Follow @shannondrayer