Wednesday night’s game between the Mets and Braves followed almost an identical script to the day prior. And, for some reason, Daniel Vogelbach is still around for it all.
New York jumped out to a 4-1 lead over Atlanta, even without Pete Alonso in the lineup. Max Scherzer looked to be cruising, as he’d eventually register his 111th career double-digit strikeout performance. But just like on Tuesday, things fell apart in the middle innings. The Braves won yet again, giving the Mets their first five-game losing streak since September 2021.
They did score five runs, but as has been the case lately, Vogelbach didn’t have much to contribute. He went 0-for-3 with a walk, a strikeout, and a weak ground-ball double play. Things have gotten progressively worse, too. After posting a .792 OPS and 134 wRC+ in March/April, those numbers went down to .582 and 73, respectively, in May. So far in June, he’s produced a .297 OPS and -15 wRC+.
No — those aren’t typos.
Across 143 plate appearances in 2023, Vogey is slashing .203/.343/.297 with just seven extra-base hits (five doubles, two home runs). Meanwhile, after the Mets cut Gary Sanchez to reinstate Tomas Nido from the injured list (who they then DFA’d a few days later), he landed in San Diego and has caught fire.
Sanchez collected one RBI single in seven plate appearances with New York before getting cut loose. But with the Padres, he’s slashing .310/.375/.793 with four home runs and nine RBI in 32 plate appearances.
I know he’s a right-handed hitter and Vogey is a left-handed hitter, but why didn’t New York opt to give Sanchez more of a chance? Cutting Nido shortly after re-instating him makes that move look even more foolish, but these things happen. And who knows how much longer Sanchez can be an above-average hitter? It’s a great story, but he’s got some recent history to prove wrong, as well.
The true crime is that Vogelbach is still taking at-bats away from Mark Vientos. Sure, the kid is hitting .188/.206/.281 since getting recalled to the big leagues. But for some reason, Buck Showalter — and/or whoever else is responsible for putting the lineup together every night — don’t want him to play at all.
He’s started just three games as the designated hitter since May 30th. That’s unacceptable, especially when Vogelbach is performing so poorly. Just put the kid in against right-handers and left-handers. He proved he could hit both in Triple-A. And it’s not like he’ll do any worse than what Vogey is doing, right?
I’m not saying any of these options are the obvious answer to New York’s issues. However, the Mets are so stuck in the “Well, this worked last year, so it’ll work again this year” school of thought that they’re not fixing the actual problem.
Vogelbach seems like a good dude and someone who gets along with everyone in the clubhouse. That only goes so far, though. He needs to produce and he hasn’t been at all. This isn’t working anymore, and he’s too one-dimensional to keep taking up a roster spot every time a move needs to be made.
We’ve seen what Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty have done with consistent playing time. Put Vientos in every night, let it ride, and see what happens. As if it can get any worse.
Let. The. Kids. Play.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.
