CLEVELAND – Stephen Vogt has been nearly perfect in his 2.5 seasons as the Cleveland Guardians’ manager. Vogt was the American League Manager of the Year in 2024 and 2025, leading the Guardians to the AL Central title both years. Cleveland is in a virtual tie with the Chicago White Sox for the division lead as the teams finish their four-game weekend series on Sunday at Progressive Field.
Yet Vogt doesn’t feel he is even close to mastering the job. The 41-year-old has the attitude of someone just getting started.
“I learn something new every day,” Vogt said. “I never want to stop learning. There are new experiences, I'm sure, Lord willing, if I get to do this for a long time, I'm going to keep learning. And until you go through things for the first time, there's no playbook. There's no managerial handbook that has you prepared for what could happen.”
Stephen Vogt gets creative offensively
One of the worst possible things happened to the Guardians on June 14 when third baseman Jose Ramirez was placed on the injured list with a broken hamate bone in his left hand. Ramirez needed surgery and likely won’t be able to play until August.
The Guardians have gone 8-10 without the seven-time All-Star, whose loss is a huge blow to a team that is 28th in the major leagues in runs scored with an average of 3.96 per game. Vogt has tried to compensate by platooning at three positions and by aggressively using pinch hitters to find more favorable matchups between batters and pitchers.
“We've got a lot of guys that are ready to go that are pinch-hitting for the first time or getting pinch-hit for the first time, and it's a lot to process, and I’m happy with the way our guys are handling it,” Vogt said.
Perhaps the most impressive part of the Guardians’ success is that they have had nine players make their major-league debuts this season.
Chief among them is leadoff-hitting second baseman Travis Bazzana, the first overall selection in the 2024 amateur draft, who will be one of three Guardians on the American League team for the All-Star Game on July 14 in Philadelphia. Left fielder Khalil Watson and designated hitter Cooper Ingle – both left-handed batters — are on the long sides of platoons at their positions.
Guardians try to both win and develop
That has forced Vogt to walk a tightrope between winning and developing players. However, he understands that it is part of being a manager for a small-market franchise. The Guardians began the season with a $62-million payroll, the lowest in the game.
“There's no formula,” Vogt said. “Our players that are here are here, and we're going to keep working to get them better. We must have a little bit of a zoom out. I mean, we're building it for October. That's what we're doing. And the guys who are here are going to play a role on that team, and they're getting experience. They're going through firsts.
“There are going to be mistakes, and you don't get upset about them. You learn from it, and you move on. It doesn't do any good to harp on someone who makes a mistake. It's love on them. Yeah, we need to learn from it. There are a lot of lessons to learn from every mistake, but we're going to keep going. We're here to win. We're here to win every day, and we're going to continue to find ways to do it.”
Sometimes, it’s easy to forget that Vogt was an active player as recently as 2023 when he retired from the Athletics following a 10-year career as a catcher that included two All-Star Game appearances. Vogt was the Seattle Mariners’ bullpen coach in 2024 before being hired by the Guardians to replace Terry Francona, the franchise’s all-time winningest manager.
Vogt was asked how different he is since coming to Cleveland.
“More gray hair, a few more pounds,” Vogt said with a smile. “I've grown up. I was 39 and had never done anything like this before. I'm further removed from playing. I fight the ‘it's easy’ bug. The further away you get from playing, the easier it is. The better you were. That's so true. You don't remember the bad times. You just remember your good moments from playing. So, I'm growing up.”
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