I know I know nobody wants to see this article and with every called strike three this article becomes harder and harder to write, but the career numbers say he deserves a defense. Met fans don't seem to agree.
PLAY THE KIDS! WHY IS VOGEL IN THE LINEUP? DFA HIM! The call to end this so called "experiment" (an odd way to talk about a guy who’s put up an 800 ops against righties his entire career) is eerily familiar to a former player, who despite a track record for hitting, couldn’t get out of his own way in 2022. That player is J.D Davis.
Davis is a lifetime 800 ops bat (against righties and lefties to be fair) but he couldn’t hit a lick for 3 months as a Met in 22', and eventually was traded by Eppler for a comically bad package, and guess what? J.D. Davis, the lifetime 797 ops bat, is opsing 849 for the Giants in 2023. The Mets did like JD’s hard hit rate even as he slumped, and stuck with him, but months later with no results, other then hard hit rate, they eventually moved him which proved to be a mistake (In the short term).
Guess which Mets average exit velocity ranks him in their top 5 in 2023? Yep Daniel Vogelbach (when he actually swings of course). Now these two players aren’t entirely the same, Davis hits both lefties and righties (despite being almost blind to any fastball above the belt). Davis can play every day because of this, but both have severe limitations. Neither play good defense, though Davis can be used at 3b whereas Vogel is exclusively a DH.
Neither has speed though Vogel is molasses slow. Vogelbachs stats against righties are almost the exact same as Davis’s. They both get on base at a 350/360 clip and ops around 800. It's not an experiment. Voglebach is slumping, or feeling the pressure of NY, but he’s going to hit righties again, wether its in New York remains to be seen.
The bigger issue in all of this is the Mets usage of one of their top prospects, Mark Vientos (ranked 6-8 by most prospectus’s ). Vientos is only starting against lefties, so essentially once or twice a week which is pretty hard to defend for a young player who should be getting as many at bats as possible. Not to mention any time Vientos does something positive, he’s immediately out of the lineup the following day. Hard to stack good ab’s daily when you are on the bench, that’s typically a veterans role, one Escobar is excelling in.
As for Vogelbach he’s a lefty who hits righties and nothing more. Like Davis if the Mets move on he will hit righties again at his next stop. The question may be do the Mets ride out a prolonged slump or move on to other options? Vientos splits were tilted until this year. The kid crushed lefties in the minors but struggled against righties, but everyone loves the shiny new prospect and they may have a case.
At the very least calling up a kid to sit him seems like poor development. Ronny Mauricios is tearing up aaa but he's also adjusting to a new position which takes time (6 errors in his first 24 games at 2b). It's hard to defend a player in a slump, especially one as limited as Vogelbach, but the numbers tell the story. He WILL hit righties again.
Expectations may also be an issue. Vogelbach is a big man and fans may have expected big man to who hit big dingers, except Vogelbach actually works counts and is more of a doubles threat. He’s in a slump, it's frustrating to watch as he takes strike three consistently, but if you don’t like it, wait a month, things will be different or maybe Eppler can flip him for Colin Holderman.
Where do I start here?
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I'm not going to, but I will say this...
where would this guy be right now if Vientos was hitting .600 and had 5 home runs as a DH facing RHP?
In fairness to Vientos, I read his sac fly to deep center the other day was a 112 MPH rocket. Sometimes they get caught.
ReplyDeleteRe: Mauricio, I did read this: “We know Ronny [Mauricio] can play on the left side on the infield. We know that we can put Ronny [Mauricio] at second base in a major league game too, but we also want to see how that athleticism play in the outfield. All the kind of indicators, all the measurables tell us that he could be able acclimate out there as well,” Eppler said.
So, what they are doing is delaying his fielding training to delay his arrival, probably until July. He’ll only be more ready and more versatile, but.the slow and staggered switch of defensive positions is their way of being able to justify delaying his call up.
The decision to bring up Mauricio can't be made until a roster space is opened. One of Canha or Pham needs to be moved and Ronny needs to be an everyday player. I've said it before both Canha and Vogelbach have trade value. Let's see if we can bolster the pen.
ReplyDeleteBieber for Mauricio and Vientos? Indians and Mets are talking
ReplyDeleteIf they can flip him for a warm body, do it. He is not a good baseball player and he does not take care of himself physically.
ReplyDeleteHe hits at an 800 ops clip against righties - there is use in that
DeleteAnon how about Parada+ for Diaz Jr?
ReplyDeleteNo matter what anyone thinks of the e diaz trade - a plus prospect for a closer is still poor process
DeleteRed Sox interested in Guillorme!
ReplyDeleteI honestly think Vogelbach can be a useful player for the Mets. There is just so much negative emotion in the fan base about certain players right now.
ReplyDeleteThis year Vientos hit. 313 with 12 Homer's and OPS of 1.054 against right hand pitching while at Syracuse. You would think that would earn him a legitimate shot to play everyday. Hard to defend playing Vogelbach unless you're a relative
ReplyDeleteI did make note of this in the article but the larger sample his splits are very divided - but I do agree if you’re gonna call a prospect up benching him is not a good way to develop him
DeleteAgreed,you don’t trade a top prospect for a closer unless maybe you’re in a stretch drive pennant race.
ReplyDelete