Photo Courtesy: Tim Tushla/Sioux City Explorers
By Sioux City Explorers Media Relations
SIOUX CITY, IA – The Sioux City Explorers announced today that the St. Louis Cardinals have purchased the contract of Explorers INF John Nogowski. Nogowski will report to the Springfield Cardinals of the Texas League, the Double-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Nogowski got off to a scorching start to begin the 2017 season for the X’s, finding himself atop the American Association in batting average for the majority of the season, including currently leading the league with his .402 average. In 34 games played with the X’s, the first basemen accumulated 47 hits, including 12 doubles and a team high 4 homeruns. Nogowski also led the team in RBI’s (28), OPS (1.089), and Slugging Percentage (.607). His impressive .482 on base percentage was also tops in the American Association. Nogowski registered 17 multi-hit games, including a streak of 7 games in a row from June 6th-June 13th with at least 2 hits. Nogowski provided some late game dramatics for the X’s including his 3-run go ahead homerun in the 8th inning on May 26th vs. the Sioux Falls Canaries and his walk-off 3-run homerun to cap a comeback win against the Gary Southshore Railcats on June 2nd.
Nogowski was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 34th round of the 2014 MLB Draft from Florida State University. Nogowski attended North Florida Christian HS in Tallahassee, FL helping lead them to two state titles and was named a three-time first team All-State honoree. In his final season at Florida State in 2014, Nogowski was named to the All-ACC First Team after hitting .307 with 12 doubles, 5 home runs, and 49 RBIs in 59 starts. Nogowski started his professional career in 2014 playing at the rookie level and in 2015 he spent the entire season playing for the Advanced-A Stockton Ports hitting .274 with a .352 on base percentage. Last season Nogowski hit .285 with 7 home runs and a .354 on base percentage in 84 games for the Ports, getting a brief call up to Double-A during the season.
With Nogowski’s signing by the Cardinals organization, the Sioux City Explorers have now had 13 player’s contracts acquired by an affiliated organization since the completion of the 2015 season; Ryan Kalish – Chicago Cubs, Rob Wort – Boston Red Sox, Patrick Johnson – Pittsburg Pirates, Ryan Court – Boston Red Sox, Noah Perio – Los Angeles Dodgers, Tayler Scott – Milwaukee Brewers, Connor Overton – San Francisco Giants, Lindsey Caughel – Seattle Mariners, Reinier Roibal – Los Angeles Dodgers, Nelson Ward – Seattle Mariners, Kurt Heyer – Miami Marlins, James Needy – Miami Marlins (2017), John Nogowski – St. Louis Cardinals.
