Daniel Vogelbach Has Become Folk Hero For New York Mets
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NEW YORK - Take a stroll around Citi Field, and you're sure to see a few Daniel Vogelbach replica jerseys on the backs of fans.
Not too shabby for a player who has been on the team for roughly three weeks.
Apart from his robust performance on the field, where he's hit .341/.473/.568 and has 0.7 fWAR in just 15 games since joining the Mets, what has sealed the deal is his personality.
On Wednesday afternoon as part of Women's Day at Citi Field, Mets hitters walked up to songs made by women musicians.
Vogelbach's song of choice? "Milkshake" by Kelis, to get a laugh from his teammates.
"All the boys wanted me to do it," Vogelbach told Tim Healey of Newsday. "The boys want, the boys get."
A Florida native, Vogelbach played ball when he was younger with Francisco LIndor and Tomas Nido.
"He's hard to forget," Nido said after Vogelbach was acquired. "He's a great clubhouse guy. He's going to fit right in. One of the funniest teammates I've had."
Mets manager, Buck Showalter, also gave Vogelbach a stamp of approval when the team first acquired him.
"I always like people who don't take themselves too seriously but take the game seriously," Showalter said.
For Vogelbach, he stayed cerebral and humble when asked by Inside the Mets how he feels being the new talk of the town.
“I appreciate the support," Vogelbach said on Wednesday after the Mets swept the Cincinnati Reds, a game in which he drove in three runs. "At the end of the day, I have to do a job, and the job for me is to help this team win.
" I think in the reality of things, there are a lot of ups and downs in a season. When you play well, things are great. When you play bad, things are not so great, so I just try to stay the same person everyday, be level-headed and even keeled, and do what I can every day to help the team win. Whatever way that may be.”
Originally a draft pick of the Chicago Cubs in 2011, Vogelbach climbed the rope of their minor league system before being traded to the Seattle Mariners in 2016, where he debuted later that year.
A 2019 All-Star in a season where he clubbed 30 home runs, perhaps Vogelbach's biggest feat that year was having a sandwich named after him at T-Mobile Park: the Vogey Hoagie.
After stops in Toronto, Milwaukee and most recently Pittsburgh, Vogelbach finds his way back in another playoff push.
Coming from a cellar dwelling team in Pittsburgh, Vogelbach said his mentality hasn't changed when approaching his game since joining the Mets.
“You definitely want to play on winning teams, that’s why you play this game," Vogelbach told Inside the Mets. "From an individual standpoint, I don’t think it changes my mindset. We’ve got a job to do, and we get paid to play the game. No matter what team you’re on, or where you’re at you have to perform.
"If you have a bad year on a bad team, it doesn’t say on your baseball card, you know, ‘we’ll give him another chance because he didn’t play on a good team.’ You have to bring it every single day, and you have to perform wherever you’re at and that’s on you.”
The Mets have benefited from the acquisition of Vogelbach tremendously against right-handed pitching, but the lightheartedness he brings to the clubhouse is always a boost.
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