Alex Sogard

Alexander Kyle Sogard

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 3", Weight 221 lb.

• School North Carolina State University, Oregon State University
• High School Thunderbird High School

• Born July 25, 1987 in Phoenix, AZ USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Alex Sogard reached AAA in 2013; his brother Eric Sogard has played in the majors.

Amateur Career

Sogard hit .333 as a high school junior, while posting a 7-2, 2.40 record. As a senior, he batted .511 with 6 homers and 34 RBI in 31 games to win All-State honors at first base. He was a redshirt freshman when Oregon State University won the 2006 College World Series and then made four relief appearances as a sophomore, when they won the 2007 College World Series. Transferring to NC State to see more playing time, he went 4-2 with a 4.35 ERA in 2008. The Arizona Diamondbacks took him in the 28th round of the 2008 amateur draft, one round after Josh Spence and one round before Ryan Cook. He did not sign then fell to 4-2, 6.19 as a junior with 23 walks in 36 1/3 innings. In 2010, he was 2-2 with a 5.26 ERA for NC State.

Minors

The Houston Astros, behind scout JD Alleva, picked Sogard in the 26th round of the 2010 amateur draft. He made his pro debut with the Tri-City Dust Devils; in 22 games for them that summer, he was 1-2 with a 3.51 ERA. He moved up to the Lexington Legends in 2011 and went 3-4 with four saves, a 4.14 ERA and 112 K to 25 BB in 104 1/3 IP. He was 6th in the Astros chain in whiffs, between Erick Abreu and Andy Van Hekken.

Sogard split the summer of 2012 between the Lancaster JetHawks (0-2, 2.81 in 6 G) and the Corpus Christi Hooks (3-1, 3.86 in 33 G). He then pitched for the Czech national team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. In his lone outing, he relieved Jan Blažek in the top of the 3rd with a 5-0 deficit, two on and one out, he was on the hill when one inherited runner scored on a passed ball by Petr Čech. He gave up a run of his own in the 4th when B.J. Hubbert singled in Albert Cartwright, but went 1-2-3 in both the 5th and 6th. Marek Minařík relieved in the 7th with a 7-2 deficit. Sogard's 3 2/3 IP were second on the Czech squad in the tourney, behind Michal Sobotka.

In 2013, he was with the Hooks (3 Sv, 2.88 in 16 G) and Oklahoma City RedHawks (2-1, 9.39 in 22 G; 2.13 WHIP). Despite his struggles in AAA, he was sent to the Arizona Fall League, going 2-1 with a 3.65 ERA in 10 outings for the Peoria Javelinas. He opened 2014 back with Corpus Christi and was 1-1 with two saves and a 2.91 ERA in 25 games. He was then dealt to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Cesar Carrasco. He was 0-1 with a 9.l82 ERA and 2.18 WHIP in 15 games for the Mobile BayBears following the transaction.

Let go by Arizona, he spent most of 2015 with the independent St. Paul Saints, with a save and a 2.88 ERA in 33 games. Late in the year, he was dealt to the Wichita Wingnuts with a player to be named later for David Espinosa. He allowed one run in 3 1/3 IP for Wichita.

Back with the Czechs for the 2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, he relieved Jan Novák in the 8th inning against host Mexico with two on and two outs. He walked Adrian Gonzalez but retired Jesus Castillo to escape the jam and went 1-2-3 in the 8th; the Czechs lost, 2-1. He also pitched in their semifinal game against Nicaragua, replacing Daniel Mráz with a surprising 3-2 lead in the 5th. He allowed two unearned runs in the 8th to allow Nicaragua to tie it at four (the Czechs having scored again) before Martin Schneider replaced him in the 10th. In the first three qualifiers, only South Africa's Dylan Unsworth, a starter, worked more innings than Sogard. His five whiffs were third in the Mexico Qualifier behind Berman Espinosa and Alejandro Soto.

The Baltimore Orioles purchased his contract after the qualifier but he had not pitched in their minor league system in 2016 as of mid-July.

Post-Playing Career

Sogard was an assistant coach at Wright State University in 2017-2018, and became head coach in 2019.

Sources

• 2012 Astros Media Guide
• NC State bio
• 2013 WBC Qualifiers
• 2017 WBC Qualifiers