Daniel Vogelbach's stats in the five-hole this season prove it isn't working

St. Louis Cardinals v New York Mets
St. Louis Cardinals v New York Mets / Rich Schultz/GettyImages

One of the many issues that New York Mets fans have had a gripe with through the entirety of the season to this point has been the consistent shuffling of the starting lineup night in and night out. One decision has had many Mets fans hot under the collar which has been management putting Designated Hitter Daniel Vogelbach in the five-hole behind Pete Alonso.

Statistically speaking, we all have a valid point in Vogelbach being removed from the five-hole. When you look at his statistics this season when starting out of the five-hole, his slash line is a horrid .170/.269/.203 with a .staggering 472 OPS over 67 plate appearances. Vogelbach also has zero home runs to go along with 5 RBIs out of that spot in the lineup.

The Mets have gotten almost no production from Daniel Vogelbach out of the 5-hole this season

The Mets have plenty of other capable hitters on the roster who can hit out of the five-hole including their rookie slugging catcher Francisco Alvarez. If Vogelbach is going to be placed in the starting lineup on a nightly basis there's been zero reason given why he should be hitting that high, as I believe he would be better served to hit lower in the lineup.

It's also fair to wonder if the lack of protection behind Pete Alonso has contributed to his struggles over the last couple of months. Let's be honest it's easier for opposing teams to give Alonso nothing to hit after his torrid start to the season, when the protection behind you isn't much of a power threat and is hitting as poorly as Vogelbach is.

I'm a firm believer the Mets should be giving at-bats out of the designated hitter position to both Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio right now, as the DH position for the most part of the season has been a black hole that has shown zero upside to this point. As loyal Mets fans, we all want to see Vogelbach succeed in Queens as that is conducive to overall success, but plain and simple the numbers don't lie, and the numbers say right now that he should be removed from the 5-hole moving forward.

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