Daniel Vogelbach back in action, but he won't last much longer with Mets if he doesn't hit
Daniel Vogelbach #32 of the Mets bats during the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citi Field on Friday, June 16, 2023. Credit: Jim McIsaac
With his “mental break” over, slumping designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach returned to the Mets’ lineup on Friday night against the Cardinals at Citi Field.
Vogelbach, who last played on June 7 in Atlanta, went 1-for-3 with a sixth-inning solo home run in the Mets’ 6-1 victory over the National League-worst Cardinals.
Earlier this week, during his hiatus from the field, Vogelbach said: “It’s not the first time that I’ve struggled in my career and it’s not going to be the last.”
Except for this: If Vogelbach goes back to slumping during this next stretch of games, it will be his last. His last for the Mets.
Vogelbach’s minuscule-by-baseball-standards salary ($1.5 million) and limited skills make him an extremely easy option for general manager Billy Eppler to lop off the roster.
Vogelbach is a lefthanded hitter. He doesn’t bat against lefthanded pitchers. He is extremely slow running the bases. He’s also listed as a first baseman, but manager Buck Showalter said on Friday that even with Pete Alonso injured, he doesn’t consider Vogelbach an option at first base.
So what does Vogelbach do? At his best, he gets on base a lot and hits for power.
After popping out and grounding out in his first two at-bats on Friday, Vogelbach launched a 3-and-1 sinker from Miles Mikolas high and deep into the second deck in right for his third home run and first since May 7.
Vogelbach paused a moment to admire the 401-foot blast. It went 106.1 mph off the bat.
It was big. Maybe not in the outcome of the game — it increased the Mets’ lead to 6-1 — but for the man who hit it. The man who understands the precarious position he has put himself in.
“I didn’t produce the way that I could have produced, and at the end of the day, the name of the game is winning,” Vogelbach said. “If I’m not going to do my part to help the team win, then somebody else can. So that’s why you put in the work.”
In his first six games as a Met last July, Vogelbach came to the plate 22 times and reached via hit or walk in 11 of them. In August, he hit four homers and drove in 15 runs with an .805 OPS but had only a .217 average.
Overall, in 55 games with the Mets in 2022, Vogelbach hit .255 with an .830 OPS and a 140 OPS+. If you’re not familiar with OPS+, 100 is league average.
Vogelbach also won over the hearts of Mets fans with his outgoing personality and roly-poly physique. You can overlook the fact that it takes three singles to drive in a player from first if he does his main job well.
What’s his main job?
“The ultimate goal is to get back to being the Daniel Vogelbach that I’ve been for my career,” he said the other day. “And that’s hitting righthanded pitching and helping this team win.”
It’s a limited resume, so Vogelbach needs to rake to stay in Flushing.
Mets fans have turned on him in 2023. Vogelbach earned their wrath by going into Friday with a .203 average and .639 OPS.
Remember OPS+? Vogelbach’s was 82. Kinda takes the “hitter” part out of “designated hitter” when you’re 18 points below league average.
In his first at-bat Friday night, Vogelbach made the last out of the first by popping out to first. Given that he was in the seventh spot in the order, that made it a good first inning for the Mets, who scored three times with two outs on a two-run double by Brett Baty and an RBI single by Tommy Pham.
Showalter noted that Pham is an example of a player who earned more playing time by hitting well when he got his opportunity.
“Play better and you’ll play,” Showalter said is his message to his guys.
For Vogelbach, you could make it, “Play better and you’ll stay.”
With more at-bats like the one in the sixth, Vogelbach may just have some staying power after all.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
