Catcher Stephen Vogt made his first appearance at Diamondbacks camp this week following a positive COVID-19 test earlier in the month. He was relieved to find that his swing still felt good despite the downtime.

“When you take a break or go on the (injured list) or whatever it might be,” Vogt said, “that’s one of the biggest worries is that you’re not going to feel where you left off.”

Vogt’s swing was of particular interest given the adjustments he made to it during the offseason. Like many of his teammates last year, Vogt went through a down season. He felt like his swing lacked “adjustability” — like he could only hit pitches down the middle.

The Diamondbacks brought Vogt in two offseasons ago in large part because of what they expected him to bring offensively, particularly against right-handed pitching. But he went just 12 for 72 (.167) and lost playing time as the season progressed.

Known for having a simple, direct swing, Vogt said the mechanical issues were a first for him in his career. Driving back to his home in Washington state after the season, he cleared his mind and concluded that change was needed.

“I think there was a lot of self-evaluating that went on this winter for me and I had to look myself in the mirror and be honest,” he said. “That’s never fun. But you also learn a lot about yourself. I made some good adjustments, mostly with the direction of my move in my swing, and now I feel like I’m driving the ball in the middle of the field. And I have some adjustability, which is going to allow me to take some of those borderline pitches I was chasing last year as well.”

Vogt came up positive during the club’s in-take testing prior to the start of spring training. He considers himself fortunate to have had a mild case, which he described as being similar to cold/allergy symptoms. He said no one in his family had serious symptoms, either.

The most frustrating part, he said, is not knowing how he contracted it. He said his family has been cautious the past 11 months, doing only the things they deemed absolutely necessary, like going to the grocery store or the doctor’s office.

“Had I done something and known, OK, yes, that’s where we got it, it would probably be a little easier to deal with,” he said.

Bumgarner throws

Left-hander Madison Bumgarner threw a lengthy and animated live batting practice session on Saturday afternoon during which he appeared to have fun needling teammate Kole Calhoun.

Bumgarner and Calhoun had a running dialogue that spanned multiple at-bats. Their interaction culminated with Bumgarner jokingly telling Calhoun that he was able to execute a pitch inside “because I didn’t care if I hit you.”

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said he enjoyed watching the back and forth.

“Once they said what they wanted to say and laughed it off, the smiles wore off, they stepped in the box and got on the rubber and it was back to competition,” Lovullo said. “I liked that part of it.”

The outing was Bumgarner’s second live batting practice session of the spring. It lines him up to make his Cactus League debut sometime around the middle of next week.

Vogt was behind the plate for Bumgarner’s session, but Lovullo said Bumgarner will throw to a variety of catchers this spring and likely will be caught by multiple catchers during the season rather than having a personal catcher.

First up: shortstop

Lovullo said Ketel Marte’s positional journey this spring will begin at shortstop as the club looks to determine who will be Nick Ahmed’s primary backup.

“I want to see what he looks like over there,” Lovullo said. “And he’s looked very good.”

Other candidates to back up at the position include Josh Rojas and Andy Young, Lovullo said.

As for Marte, he still seems most likely to see the bulk of his time this season in center field and second base but won’t shift to those positions until a bit later in camp. Second base will come next, Lovullo said.

Lovullo has had Marte prepare this way in previous springs, as well, believing that it is easier to get acclimated on the infield before moving to the outfield rather than the other way around.

Short hops

Right-hander Humberto Mejia participated in Saturday’s workout. His arrival to camp had been delayed by visa issues. The only player yet to report to camp is right-hander Carlos Navas, a non-roster invitee.

*Following right-hander Zac Gallen to the mound in Sunday’s Cactus League opener will be right-hander Taylor Clarke, Seth Frankoff and J.B. Bukauskas and lefty Tyler Gilbert.

Reach Piecoro at (602) 444-8680 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @nickpiecoro.

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