Tom Brennan - Vogelbach vs. Stewart - Go Ahead, Pick One

DJ STEWART: A METS FIND SINCE TAKING OFF HIS SYRACUSE CAP

Lefty power hitter DJ Stewart has been a revelation since his call up a few weeks ago, hitting 5 homers in 6 games and also flat-out robbed of a 6th homer on a great above-the-wall leaping catch.  Before he was called up, he hit 14 HRs in 40 games in May and June in AAA, a prodigious pace.

Career-wise, he is .216/.329/.418, and in 588 at bats, 32 HRs, and 85 RBIs.  What's wrong with that?

His competitor, Daniel Vogelbach, went 1 for 5 Monday night, with his RBI single coming off an exhausted and limited-in-talent Allan Winans.  That makes Vogey 1 for 15 against lefties this year.  

So, besides being the slowest offensive player in baseball and almost exclusively a DH for that reason, his career batting average against lefties is .130.  Yep, .130.  Only .130.

So, as has been noted many times over the past year on this website, Vogie can't run (in his 555 game career, he has zero steals in zero attempts), can't hit lefties, and can't play the field (125 Mets career games, none in the field).

Left DJ Stewart, meanwhile, hits .234 vs. lefties - career.  

So, if the other team switches out a righty and brings in a lefty, you don't have to pinch hit for Vogey if you have DJS instead.

If I had to pick one and release the other right now, I keep DJS.  

Without a scintilla of a doubt.

Good fielder, faster, power, not a liability when hitting vs. lefties.

Me?  If I was the GM? 

I'd release Vogelbach immediately, in point of fact, and call up Ronny Mauricio(triple and 2 walks last night in the Syracuse game). 

Or the hot Baty (see more below).

Start the future.  Now.

Unless, of course, you intend to trade Ronny this off season for pitching, and think a failed Mauricio call up would impair his trade value.  Otherwise, the Mauricio wait should be over.

Call him up.  Let Vogie go.  Even though Vogie hit another HR last night. His WAR this year is now positive - at a scant 0.1. He has been solid the last two months, hitting around .250 with 18 RBIs in 96 plate appearances over that span…and 4 HRs and 11 RBIs in the last 10 games, but one was a 3 run HR in an 18 run loss and another was a grand slam in a game the Mets won by 11, two pretty window-dressing at bats which accounted for 40% of his RBIs in July and August.

If he is good enough, another team will quickly pick him up.

But I am not the GM. The GM is the GM.

AUSTIN TROESSER:

Mets’ 4th round pick, and 135th overall, made his pro debut in the FCL. One inning, no runs, 3 Ks. Can’t argue with that debut, huh? In the 7 inning one hitter, the FCL METS used 6 pitchers, while the opposing team used 7 in the 2-0 Mets win. Like the first game of spring training, lots of newly drafted guys pitched an inning each. One guy showed off out of the 13 hurlers and threw 2 innings.

BOOMING BRETT BATY:

In 10 games inAAA exile is .325/.378/.675 since his demotion.

RUSTY:

After 3 weeks on the IL, Kevin Parada is 1 for 17 so far.

DREW GILBERT: 

.333/.397/.550 in 16 AA games as a Met. Sweet.

TIDY TIDWELL:

Blade Tidwell has adjusted to AA. Last night, 5 shutout innings, 6 Ks.

MENDOZA LIVES IN A CROWDED NEIGHBORHOOD IN BINGHAMTON:

Last 4 guys in the Binghamton RP team’s box score last night sported averages of .188, .197, .130, and .132. I hope their resumes are up to date. 

In fact there are 7 sub .200 guys on the BRP roster right now who, combined, are 189 for 1,060 (.178) with 336 Ks. Yet, somehow, Binghamton is a .500 team.  

But it is the key reason why the team is hitting .223, while the second lowest team is hitting .234. Besides those 7 Mendoozies, the rest of the BRP team has hit an OK .242 this year.

I’m stopping here, as I am turning into a Ramble Pony.