With the MLB Draft and All-Star break over, the hot stove action should be pretty wild with the trade deadline not far away on Aug. 2. And the New York Mets (58-35) and Pittsburgh Pirates (39-54) got that trade action started on Friday night.
The Mets have acquired first baseman/designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach in exchange for relief pitcher Colin Holderman. The move was officially announced by each organization:
We’ve acquired IF Daniel Vogelbach from Pittsburgh in exchange for RHP Colin Holderman. pic.twitter.com/dSodgZKvea
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 22, 2022
We have acquired RHP Colin Holderman from the New York Mets in exchange for DH Daniel Vogelbach.
Additionally, we have activated OF Greg Allen from the 60-day injured list and designated C Michael Perez for assignment.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 22, 2022
Mets general manager Billy Eppler had interesting comments on the trade:
Billy Eppler: "I ran through a bunch of different iterations to try to not have to yield Colin (Holderman) in this transaction. Pittsburgh didn’t have to move (Daniel Vogelbach) . . . We had to give them, ultimately, the player that they dug their heels in on."
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) July 22, 2022
Billy Eppler said dealing Holderman for Volgelbach is "We rob Peter to pay Paul a little bit," but said all indications are the relief market will be more robust, more so than for bats.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) July 22, 2022
Vogelbach, 29, is a fan favorite largely due to his very unique physique, listed at 6’0″, 270 pounds. But he’s a solid hitter that gets on base (.338 on-base percentage in 2022, .336 for his career) and slugs (.430 slugging percentage in 2022, .408 for his career) well above league-average clips (the MLB average OBP this season is .312, and the average SLG is .395). He has career-best wOBA (.337) and wRC+ (118) marks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8JvHrY_A0E
The left-handed slugger has particularly been good against right-handed pitching, rocking a .260/.365/.532 slash line and 149 wRC+ vs that arm side this season in 203 plate appearances. This is an area where he should really help the Mets’ offense.
Mets designated hitters this year: .208/.288/.317 with 6 homers, third fewest in majors. They will try to get a boost from Vogelbach.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) July 22, 2022
Fixing: Mets have a .692 OPS vs. RHP, 21st in majors. Vogelbach has an .896 OPS vs. RHP. Cano and Dom Smith have failed to provide heft from the left side. This feels like a move, but not necessarily the only move the Mets will make to try to address this.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) July 22, 2022
Interestingly, the Mets gave up a rookie big-leaguer who’s done very well this season (usually in these types of trades, the buyer is looking to maintain any quality possible big-league help, but then again the Mets are pretty loaded on the pitching side of things and can always make more trades).
Holderman, 26, has a 2.04 ERA and 2.26 FIP this season in 17 2/3 innings pitched. The 6’7″ right-hander has averaged 96 mph on his fastball this season. He ranked 10th on the Mets’ top prospects list from FanGraphs (Eric Longenhagen) earlier this month.
Colin Holderman has looked good in his first two MLB outings.
Topped out at 97 and struck out a pair to finish things off tonight. #Mets pic.twitter.com/BxrrcKBjuR
— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) May 19, 2022
So, on the surface, it’s a pretty sensible deal for both the buyer and seller.
Here’s a look at how baseball fans are reacting to the trade:
Daniel Vogelbach's 2022 Statcast percentiles ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/SHP5gPsrl0
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 22, 2022
Daniel Vogelbach has a top 50 Barrel rate (barely, minimum 250 plate appearances), but there aren't that many bats ahead of him on that list that might be available at the deadline. Patrick Wisdom, C.J. Cron, David Peralta, Brandon Drury maybe: https://t.co/kF6yXUdOTN
— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) July 22, 2022
It's gone mostly under radar, but Daniel Vogelbach's Slug, ISO this year resemble figures from 2019, when he hit 30 HRs w/ Mariners.
Working w/ Pirates hitting coach Andy Haines, he's made some pre-swing changes to get to damage better. Paying off.
His 118 wRC+ is his best.
— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) July 22, 2022
Of the 275 hitters with at least 130 PA against righties, Vogelbach ranks 17th in wRC+, with 149. That's a point better than Pete Alonso! Could do worse than a Vogelbach/Davis platoon at DH https://t.co/CQkvhZVzgh
— Jon Becker (@jonbecker_) July 22, 2022
https://twitter.com/AnswerDave/status/1550612102922096642
Holderman, 26, is a sinkerballer who made the transition from starter to reliever in the minors after the pandemic season. This year is the first he reached majors, 2.04 ERA over 17.2 MLB innings. Really good results with cutter/slider. Fastball averages 95.7 mph
— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) July 22, 2022
Colin Holderman has a good slider, and a decent cutter, but the sinker rates as below-average, even in a short outings, despite the decent velo. Maybe the Pirates think they can do something to the shape of the sinker to get him back to starting.
— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) July 22, 2022
Collin Holderman has been doing a very good job for Mets. As @Todd_Zeile pointed out, Buck was trusting him more and more. Nice move by Pirates.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 22, 2022
