No (Vogel)backing down now: Ryon Healy up, Vogelbach sent to Tacoma

When was the last time you admitted that you were wrong? Not just a benign wrongness, like advocating vigorously for the incorrect answer during trivia, but an overwhelming wrong. It doesn’t happen very often, not because we’re all right all the time (I am, though), but simply because we are so rarely responsible for making decisions that merit apologies to others. (When you make a mistake that impacts your own life you never apologize to yourself. Isn’t that strange? We just deem it “a learning experience,” and move on with that cloud of resigned regret hanging over us.)

This move is far from surprising. Ryon Healy was placed on the 10-day DL (retro to April 8) for undisclosed weight room shenanigans and, in the tiniest of sample sizes (18 PAs), has politely been asked by the pitchers of the Texas League to return to the majors post haste.

This is, of course, in stark contrast to the -0.3 fWAR he managed to accrue in just 23 PAs for the Mariners.

In the meantime, dear Daniel Vogelbach gets the boot. To call him a revelation would be vastly hyperbolic, but Healy’s injury allowed Vogelbach to amass more major league plate appearances in a few weeks than he has throughout his entire career.

He was fine. He was able to get major league experience without overwhelmingly bringing down the team - that already makes him one of the great 1B success stories of the 2000s-era Mariners franchise! He also did this neat thing:

This offseason Jerry Dipoto traded Emilio Pagán, a once-valuable reliever, for Healy’s charming visage and...overwhelmingly average offense? For all that the rationale was confusing, the meaning was clear: RyOn would be the Mariners first baseman in 2018, gosh darn it. And now he’s sticking to his guns. Nevermind that the team will face three straight righties in Cleveland. Nevermind that Healy has just seven games of Spring Training and six regular season games under his belt this season. Nevermind that, despite my distinct lack of affinity for Vogelbach’s skillset, my heart cracked a little bit after reading that he was saying his goodbyes in the clubhouse.

It’s hard to admit you were wrong. Hopefully Healy is good enough to spare Dipoto from doing so.