With the offense struggling the New York Mets fire hitting coaches Chili Davis and assistant hitting coach Tom Slater. The Mets have named Hugh Quattlebaum the new hitting coach taking over Davis’ role. Kevin Howard will be the assistant hitting coach moving forward. Both the hiring and firing were announced late Monday night following the Mets 6-5 loss against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Hugh Quattlebaum
Quattlebaum became a part of the Mets coaching staff in the offseason as the minor league director of hitting. He recently worked as the assistant hitting coach for the Seattle Mariners after working as the minor league hitting coordinator from 2018-19. He was a former draft pick of the Detroit Tigers in 2000 and spent four years in the minor leagues with the Tigers and Baltimore Orioles.
For Howard, he joined the organization as a director of player development in the offseason. He spent six seasons with the Cleveland Indians and played professionally for 12 years.
Davis was in his third year as the Mets hitting coach but was not with the team in 2020. Slater was in his fourth year with New York.
Offensive Struggles
While the Mets are currently in the top-10 in the National League in batting average, they rank last with 76 runs through their first 23 games.
They have also seen their star shortstop in Francisco Lindor struggle in his first year with the Mets. He is currently in an 0-21 slump and is hitting .163 this year. New York has Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, Dominic Smith all hitting below .250. The Mets also have a slugging percentage of .364 and are last in the league with 18 home runs.
The Mets had won two of their last three games and tied their season-high with eight runs on Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies. New York also scored five runs on Monday against the Cardinals but was held scoreless for the final six innings in a 6-5 loss.
The Mets will next be in action on Tuesday, May 4, when they take on rookie Johan Oviedo of the Cardinals.
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Players Mentioned
Chili Davis, Johan Oviedo, Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, and Dominic Smith.
