SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS PRESS RELEASE
Phone: 817.739.3693
Website: xsbaseball.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 1, 2024
NOGOWSKI NAMED BATTER OF THE MONTH
RED HOT JULY FOR SIOUX CITY SLUGGER
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The American Association has named Sioux City Explorers first basemen John Nogowski the Rawlings Batter of the month for the month of July. Nogowski went 39-for-87, hitting a league-leading .448 for the month with four home runs and 17 RBI. He had 14 multi-hit games and finished the month with a 3-for-4 night in the X’s 8-2 win over Lincoln on Wednesday night, July 31, and he had a four-hit game last Sunday, August 28 in Cleburne. Nogowski hit safely in 20 of 25 games during the month and added 23 walks and a .566 on-base percentage.
The former Big Leaguer had his huge month off the heels of a solid June. Nogowski hit .337, going 28-for-83 while adding three home runs and 18 RBI. “Nogo” raised his batting average 100 points from June 1 to July 1 and had a seven-game hitting streak to start the month of July. Nogowski recorded his 1000th professional hit on Wednesday, July 10 at Newman Outdoor Field in Fargo. Nogowski has also recorded hits at every professional level, including the Major Leagues and in international play in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Nogowski currently leads the circuit with a .348 average with seven home runs and 46 RBI in 68 games. His 85 hits places him sixth in the American Association while his 50 walks drawn puts him in fourth. Nogowski is second in the league with a .462 on-base percentage.
Nogowski returned this season to Sioux City for the third time in his career. The Nogowski professional career story can be told in three chapters. Chapter one—following his release from the Oakland Athletics organization in 2016, he came to Sioux City where he would open the 2017 season with the X’s. Nogowski would hit an outstanding .402 with a 1.089 OPS and four home runs and would drive in 28 runs. The St. Louis Cardinals would receive the transfer of his contract after just 34 contests with the Explorers. Chapter two—climbing through the Cardinals system, Nagowski reached the Big Leagues in 2020. Chapter three—Nogowski played with the Pittsburgh Pirates for part of the 2021 season and spent time at AAA and in Mexico from 2021 to 2023.
The 31-year-old spent parts of two seasons in the MLB between the Cardinals and Pirates organizations. He debuted in 2020 with the Cardinals before he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in July 2021. Nogowski was All-ACC selection at Florida State University and played three seasons before being drafted in the 34th round of the 2014 MLB Draft by the Oakland Athletics. Nogowski returned to FSU to complete his bachelor’s degree and graduated in August 2023.
The Explorers will wrap up a three-game series tonight, August 1, against the Lincoln Saltdogs. The first pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. The games can be heard on radio at KSCJ 94.9 FM and 1360 AM, and the video stream will air for free on aabaseball.tv.
TUNE INTO ALL THE EXPLORERS ACTION ON KSCJ AND AABASEBALL.TV