Adam Fogel: Baseball America’s 2024 Independent Player Of The Year

Image credit: Adam Fogel (Photo by Taylor Denton/Missoula Paddleheads)

Adam Fogel was a solid regular in college for Hawaii and then Kentucky. But he never heard his name called in the draft, not after the number of rounds was reduced from 40 to 20 in 2021.

That may end up being the best thing that could have happened to him.

It’s been a circuitous route, but this year Fogel turned in one of the best seasons seen in an independent or MLB partner league in years.

The 26-year-old outfielder hit .388/.495/.773 with a Pioneer League-record 35 home runs for Missoula. He tossed in another 27 doubles.

Missoula has long been considered a good place to hit, and the Pioneer League is a hitter-friendly league, but Fogel hit everywhere he played. He batted .403 and hit 18 of his 35 home runs in road games.

His 2024 season made him Baseball America’s Independent/Partner Leagues Player of the Year. And it was a wonderful validation of the decisions Fogel made a year ago.

Coming out of Kentucky in 2023, Fogel went to spring training with the Frontier League’s Ottawa Titans. He hit well, but there was one problem: His arm was unplayable in the outfield. He would sometimes bounce throws to the cutoff man.

Ottawa manager Bobby Brown told Fogel that if his arm got better, they liked him, but they didn’t have room for a rookie who was DH-only.

Fogel went back to his California home and had his elbow checked out. The doctor found he had a completely torn ulnar collateral ligament.

In hindsight, Fogel admits he probably should have had his elbow checked out well before, but as a 24-year-old amateur at the time, a seven-month rehab from Tommy John surgery seemed like it could be a career ender.

So he spent a few weeks mulling over whether he even wanted to have his elbow repaired. Was it time to give up on baseball and move on?

By definition, all indy league players love baseball. Fogel had just driven from California to Ottawa—and back—for a shot at a pro career. Still, he gave thought to giving up on his dream.

Eventually, his friends and family convinced him that whether his pro career was over or not, it would be good to have a healthy elbow, even if just to play catch with his kids in the future.

“That’s when I sort of got this bug again. ‘Damn, I miss the game,’ ” Fogel said.

So he started to hit again. And before long, he had decided he needed to give the game at least one more go. He spent hours in batting cages, and along the way he figured out how to better use his back leg and back hip in his swing. He also used the time to get stronger in the weight room.

Before long, he was convinced it was worth giving baseball another try.

“I became a very spiritual person. I put a ton of my trust in God. It sort of put me at ease. If I have a good year, great. If not, I know my plan will work out,” Fogel said.

“You don’t understand how much you love the game until it’s taken away from you.”

Fogel had a friend who raved about his time in the Pioneer League with the Missoula Paddleheads. Missoula manager Michael Schlact and Ottawa’s Brown are long-time friends. A deal was worked out and Fogel became a Paddlehead.

And as soon as the season began, Fogel became a star. He had never hit 10 home runs in a college season. He hit 10 in his first 21 games with Missoula. He had hits in 23 of his first 24 games, including four three-hit games and two four-hit games.

“When you expect that to happen, the mind is a crazy thing. It will start to happen,” Fogel said. “Obviously in baseball, hitting is the hardest thing to do consistently. Those slumps you know are going to come.

“Every day, I’d show up to the field a little more locked in because I thought, ‘I’ve got to keep this rolling.’”

His team noticed. Fogel was hitting balls that would have left Yellowstone.

“I came up playing with (Orioles slugger) Chris Davis,” Schlact said. “That was a similar sound (off the bat). It’s just different.

“He started to realize that every time he would go up there, he knew he was going to impact the game.”

It helped that Fogel’s mindset had changed. At one point, he thought he deserved to get a shot in affiliated baseball. Now, he wanted to prove he deserved to be in Missoula’s lineup every day.

“Say I go and get (drafted) after my junior year,” said Fogel, who played collegiately for six years because of redshirt seasons, the lost Covid year and playing as a graduate student. “Would I still be playing? I was no way nearly as mature as a player or a person.”

Fogel even views his tryout attempt with Ottawa as a blessing in disguise.

“I went to Missoula with a completely different attitude. I haven’t earned (expletive). I am going to work my ass off every day. I’m going to earn my spot and prove myself every single day.”

The disappointments along the way helped prepare Fogel for success.

“I was a good athlete, but I didn’t know the first thing about hitting,” he said. “I had great coaches. I thought my swing was pretty good. You don’t know what you need to work on until you get exposed.”

For now, Fogel is signed to return to Missoula in 2025, but Schlact hopes the next time he sees Fogel in a uniform, it’s an affiliated one.

“My hope, as our manager, is that he’s not with us,” Schlact said. “Quite honestly, if Adam Fogel does this and doesn’t get signed, (then) what are we doing? If that’s not enough, what do I have to do?

“Hopefully, this and the year he’s had (will be enough). He’s improved his defense. Give him a chance.”