Mets designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach hasn’t been in the lineup since the June 7 loss to the Atlanta Braves, and now we know the reason for it.
According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, the Mets decided late last week to give Vogelbach “a mental break of sorts” as the left-handed hitter looks to break out of a prolonged slump.
SNY MLB Insider Andy Martino adds that because of this break, Vogelbach’s roster spot is “not in jeopardy right now.”
Vogelbach spoke to reporters inside the Mets clubhouse on Wednesday afternoon, saying the goal of the break, if you want to call it that, is to get his swing back to where it should be.
"Buck [Showlater] just wanted to give me-- mental break, not necessarily, you can use it that way, but like I said the other day, just trying to get my swing back to the ultimate goal of helping the New York Mets win," Vogelbach said.
"You go back to watching your swings, and obviously it wasn’t that far off because when you look into the data, if we’re getting technical, I have an over 50 percent hard-hit rate on the year, I’m still walking at the clip that I normally walk at," he added. "It’s just something small that can lead to me not getting the ball in the air like I like to get the ball in the air."
Acquired by the Mets in a midseason trade in 2022, Vogelbach came into 2023 as the team’s primary DH option against right-handed pitching. And while his .343 on-base percentage in 2023 matches his career mark in that category, Vogelbach hasn’t hit for power (two home runs) and his .203 batting average is the lowest of any of his qualifying single seasons.
In his previous 10 starts prior to this break (13 total games), Vogelbach was hitting just .091 (3-for-33) with one RBI and 12 strikeouts, slugging just .121.
"I feel like [hitting coach Jeremy Barnes], [assistant hitting coach Eric Hinske] and I have been able to attack things that we wanted to attack, break down swings, look back to past years," Vogelbach said. "It sucks. You go through it, and it's not the first time that I’ve struggled in my career and it’s not going to be the last. This game’s tough. There’s a reason that it’s so hard to play, and then you start putting pressure on yourself because you want to produce and you want to perform, because the ultimate goal is to win. When you feel like you’re not at your best and you’re not helping the team win, it sucks.
"I don’t think anybody in this league will tell you that struggling is easy, but the only thing to do is work, and I feel like that’s what we’ve been able to do. You look back, maybe in a month from now, you look back and it’s maybe the best thing for everybody."
It's unclear exactly when Vogelbach will return to the lineup, but the Mets have lost nine of their last 10 and could use any kind of spark they can find.