The New York Mets sit at 14-9 to begin the season after a 7-3 road trip. They sit just half a game back of first place despite a bevy of injuries and underperforming starting pitching.
The Mets have gotten outstanding production out of their stars as expected. Pete Alonso has 10 home runs already. Brandon Nimmo has a .455 OBP. Francisco Lindor has 13 extra-base hits already. Even with guys like Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha struggling, the Mets offense has been, for the most part, good.
What's really helped this team get off to the good start it's gotten off to has been the help of some players who we did not expect to produce. Here're three examples.
1) NY Mets DH Daniel Vogelbach has been very productive
The 2022 trade deadline got a lot of hate from Mets fans, but Daniel Vogelbach has been quite good as the Mets DH. Last season, he slashed .255/.393/.436 with six home runs and 25 RBI in 55 games as a Met. The power wasn't quite what we had hoped for, but other than that, nothing to complain about. He had a 139 OPS+ which trailed just Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil.
This season has been more of the same from the Designated Hitter. He only has one home run, but Vogelbach has been an on-base machine.
He's slashed .250/.412/.375 with one home run and eight RBI in his 17 games. He has a 123 OPS+ which trails just Nimmo, Alonso, and McNeil on this team. He's drawn 11 walks while striking out just 10 times.
I get the frustration with the lack of power, but there really isn't much more the Mets could ask for from Vogelbach. I will take a .412 OBP even with just one home run three weeks into the season.