Steven Vogt did more than fill the shoes of Terry Francona — he made it seem as if he’d been leading the Guardians for years. He led a Guardians club, not expected to contend, to the AL Central title.
Vogt did this while doing managerial things that catch your eye. He leaned heavily on the game’s most dynamic bullpen to circumnavigate a slew of rotation injuries and underperformance. He also oversaw a transition in Cleveland’s collective offensive approach, which mixed in a little more slugging from the same group of hitters than had been evident before.
