At the 2022 trade deadline, the Mets traded for Daniel Vogelbach and Darin Ruf to bolster their designated hitter (DH) position. In the offseason they picked up Tommy Pham to serve partially in that capacity and as a fourth outfielder. No issue with Pham’s overall .281 average and his home run on Sunday was certainly a timely hit. As of Sunday’s game, Vogelbach is hitting .174 and while getting on base via 8 walks is good, he has not hit the ball well and 3 RBI is not acceptable. We don’t need a designated “walker” unless it is coming from one of our top of the lineup table setters. Mark Canha has also served as the DH and despite his timely home run over the weekend, his .192 average does not bring fear to opposing pitchers. The exception to our current so-so performance in the DH slot is Pete Alonso, who went 1 for 3 with a home run and two RBI. That we can give him (or some other starters), an occasional day off from the field but keep his bat in the lineup is awesome.
Historically, teams filled their DH position by using a player who was no longer considered capable of playing full-time due their limitations in the field. When talking about the DH there is one name that is really synonymous with that position – Edgar Martinez of the Seattle Mariners. Many consider him to be the greatest DH of all time, and his statistics certainly back that up.
Before we get to his glorious career as a DH, Martinez was no slouch as an everyday player, and it was an injury and his resulting limitations in the field that propelled him into a star role as a DH. His statistics in his pre-DH days were amazing:
1990 – .302 BA and an OBP of .397
1991 – .307 BA and an OBP of .405
1992 – .343 BA and 46 doubles – led the majors in both categories
1993 & 1994 – combined .271 BA, 17 HR, 64 RBI in 131 games due to various injuries
In 1995 Martinez became the Mariner’s full-time DH. For nearly 7 years he continued on a torrid pace as their DH.
1995 – .356 BA, 145 games, 52 doubles, a .479 OBP and a 1.107 OPS – all league leading stats. Tied with
121 runs. Finished 3rd in the AL MVP voting behind Mo Vaughn and Albert Belle.
1996 – .327 BA
1997 – .320 BA to along with 29 HR
1998 – .322 BA and a league leading .429 OBP
1999 – .337 BA and a league leading .447 OBP
2000 – .324 BA with a career best 37 HR and an AL leading 145 RBI
2001 – .306 BA and 116 RBI
2002 – .277 BA and only 97 games played due to numerous injuries
2003 – .294 BA, 24 HR, 98 RBI and a .406 OBP
2004 – .263 with 63 RBI in 141 games. His last season
There was a lingering debate among Hall of Fame (HOF) voters about electing any DH due in part to their limited role on a team, and that in that capacity most did not exceed 1,000 at bats. In Martinez’s case, he had some very star studded seasons before he retired his fielding glove. Over his 18 year career he finished with 309 HR and 2,247 hits to go along with 1,261, a career batting average of .312 and a .418 OBP. He did not hit the old school bench marks of 500 HR or 3,000 hits, and it took until 2019 and the action of the Veteran’s Committee to usher him into the HOF.
In 2022, the Mets finished 26th out of 30 teams as far as effectiveness of their DH with a .210 batting average, 18 home runs, 83 RBI, 75 runs and a WAR of -.9. The power numbers were bolstered primarily by the sporadic play of Alonso at the DH and a hot streak by Vogelbach. Vogelbach did hit a respectable .255 with 6 home runs, 25 RBI in 55 games and a WAR of 1.0. J.D. Davis was next in line hitting only .238 with 4 home runs, 21 RBI in 66 games and a WAR of -.1. Disappointing Dominic Smith hit .194 in 58 games with 0 home runs and 17 RBI and a WAR of -.1. Not to pile on, but the mistake of dealing for Ruf was highlighted by his .152 average as a DH to go along with 0 home runs, 7 RBI in 29 games and an abysmal -.9 war.
As far as our two top division rivals, the Braves’ William Contreras hit .278, with 20 home runs, 45 RBI in 97 games and a WAR of 2.4 The Phillies top DH was Bryce Harper who could not play in the field, but his mighty bat produced a batting average of .286 with 18 home runs, 65 RBI in 99 games and a WAR of 2.4. Overall, the Braves DH position produced a .241 batting average, 44 home runs, 103 RBI, 110 runs and a WAR of 1.3. The Phillies, who rose to the occasion and made it to the world series, had their DH position produce a .275 batting average, 27 home runs, 81 RBI, 82 runs and a WAR of 2.7. Clearly both rivals were far superior to what the Mets produced.
At the upper echelon of baseball, the DH position for Toronto, Minnesota and Houston finished with WAR ratings of 8.1, 7.9 and 7.4 respectively. Their top DH players were Toronto’s George Springer who batted .267 with 25 home runs, 76 RBI in 133 games and a WAR of 4.2; the Twins’ Byron Buxton who only batted .224 in 92 games but produced 28 home runs, 51 RBI and a WAR of 4.0; and lastly the Astros Yordan Alvarez who batted .306 with 37 home runs and 97 RBI in 135 games to go along with a 6.7 WAR. Alvarez is off to a fast start in 2023 with a .288 average to go along with 4 HR and 20 RBI.
As far as the proverbial “woulda-coulda-shoulda,” we could have signed ancient Nelson Cruz who has thus far produced a .300 average along with 2 HR and 12 RBI. We could have also picked up Nick Castellano, who is hitting .279 with 13 RBI. On the other side of the coin, we were seriously considering Trey Mancini who is hitting only .216 on the season.
Timely hitting and some great relief pitching has allowed the Mets to have a 10-6 record despite an anemic team batting average of .217. The lack of hitting only amplifies the need for more offense out of the DH spot. So given the competition in our division, how long do we stay with those on the big league roster, and when do we make some moves?
So back to where we started with Vogelbach being anointed as the 2023 LH DH. When you look more deeply into his career statistics, it is hard to believe that not only did we trade for him, but that he is still on our roster. He has a life-time batting average of .217 with only one season where he had substantial playing time. In 2019 with the Mariners, he hit a paltry .208, but had 76 RBI and scored 73. His 92 walks certainly stand out and contributed to his runs scored, but 149 strike outs detracts from all that. It is hard to believe that we still have any expectations that he will hold up the left handed portion of our DH needs.
Enter the promotion of Bret Baty, who is scorching the ball in AAA and whose defense we saw greatly improve during spring training. Seems that Baty could serve two roles, sharing time with the struggling Eduardo Escobar at 3B, and taking over the LH DH position. From the right hand side, Mark Vientos is scorching the ball down at AAA, with a .346 batting average, 5 HR, 13 RBI, and OBP of .417 and an OPS of 1.109. It seems logical that he would get the next call up if our current RH DH candidates continue on their current path.
So if we bring up some players, someone has to be sent down or sent out from the MLB roster. Vogelbach does not have any minor league options, so he would need to be released. The one dimensional Tim Locastro would be an obvious cut back down to AAA, despite his game changing speed. While Jose Butto had a strong fill-in game over the weekend, he was likely already on a flight back to Syracuse. Seems dropping a relief pitcher might be the answer, but with how short our starters are going, not sure if that is a workable solution.
Or JD Martinez….
I agree with you. Vogelbach has no position to play in the field. He arguably may not beat Bartolo Colon in a sprint. I like the big guy, but not on the Mets who could contend for the Workd Series. We have too many young players who offer more upside.