Hitting Coaches Axed

[Ceetar]

quotes from his hiring. I haven't found one since.

“For me, trying to hit the ball in the air doesn't work,” Davis told The Athletic in his first spring training with the Mets in 2019. “With the way pitchers are pitching you these days or changing the way they pitch you, that might work for a while, but what happens when it stops working? To me, a line drive is always the objective of a swing — trying to hit the ball hard, trying to square the ball up with a line drive. You allow yourself for misses.

[kcmets]

Can't get much more straight-from-the-horses-mouth than that lol. Good luck to Chili, I'm

sure he'll land on his feet somewhere else in baseball.

[TransMonk]

Didn't Davis work remotely last season? If so, I wonder what differences there might be now that he is physically with the team.

[Ceetar]

I don't know how much 'originated with Alderson' matters, if everyone agreed.



nonetheless, sounds like they actually fired him a week ago.

[Fman99]

I have this image in my head where Chili is walking away and Lindor runs after him with a box of produce, like Genco's dad did for the young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II after the young Don got sacked.

[G-Fafif]

Chili has his say with Mike Puma.

ST. LOUIS – Chili Davis had a “weird feeling” that his job as Mets hitting coach was in jeopardy last week. That sense dissipated somewhat in recent days, as the team started to show life at the plate with consecutive solid games against the Phillies. Then came Monday night, a third straight game in which the Mets scored at least five runs, in a loss to the Cardinals. Afterward, Davis was summoned to manager Luis Rojas' office and informed by acting general manager Zack Scott he was fired. Davis' assistant, Tom Slater, was also fired. “The one thing I can say is I gave it everything I had,” Davis told The Post as he prepared to depart for New York on Tuesday to collect belongings before returning home to Arizona. “I put in the time, I put in the hours, I worked my ass off and wherever I went I gave it what I had and what I know and I just hope that whatever I left with these guys, I hope they take it and use it to become good players because there is a great group of guys here. A great group of guys.” The Mets entered the day 29th in MLB in scoring, averaging 3.23 runs per game. Francisco Lindor, who before the season agreed to a $341 million contract extension, has produced a .494 OPS and gone hitless in his last 21 at-bats. Scott, in his late-night news conference with reporters to announce the changes, mentioned none of those numbers, but indicated the Mets are moving in a more analytical direction focused on process and preparation. Hugh Quattlebaum was promoted from minor league director of hitting development to replace Davis. The assistant hitting coach's position was filled by director of player development Kevin Howard. The 61-year-old Davis said he “probably” would still be the Mets hitting coach if Lindor was producing to his career numbers. “But I think Francisco Lindor is going to hit,” Davis said. “He's kind of in one of those funks right now where your focus isn't there and maybe there is a little bit of in-between or doubt or whatever you call it, mentally. I have been there. The ball comes out of the hand and you don't differentiate fastball from curveball or whatever and you are just firing. You are hoping to get a hit instead of knowing you are going to get a hit.” Over the weekend Mets players, most notably Pete Alonso, referred to Donnie Stevenson, a fictional coach who had helped get the team fired up offensively. Davis chuckled at the mention of Donnie Stevenson and admitted the fictional character probably didn't help his cause. “The players were having fun and I know they didn't mean any harm,” Davis said. “It was a fun time for them, but it probably didn't help. People were just trying to loosen up as a group and it worked that night. They went out and put some runs on the board. I am all for them enjoying the game.” Davis, who also served as a hitting coach for the Athletics, Red Sox and Cubs, said he was never told by the front office that he needed to change anything in his approach to the job. “I did it the way I know how and each year the game changes, you get a lot more analytical people involved,” Davis said. “You try to use the information they give you to help the players, to inform the players, but I don't think anybody tried to change me. I've had success with good players and not-so-good players in the approach I have taken with them. It's more of a personal approach.” Davis, whose contract runs through this season, said he will enjoy the time at home and see if there is another opportunity for him in baseball. “I still have a lot to give to the game,” he said. “I might be a little old school for some people, but my thing here was to try to teach hitters how to game plan and take a plan to the plate, execute the plan to understand how pitchers pitch them, situations and all that.”

https://nypost.com/2021/05/04/chili-davis-had-weird-feeling-before-being-fired-by-mets/https://nypost.com/2021/05/04/chili-davis-had-weird-feeling-before-being-fired-by-mets/

[Edgy MD]

=Ceetar post_id=62986 time=1620146094 user_id=102]
quotes from his hiring. I haven't found one since.

“For me, trying to hit the ball in the air doesn't work,” Davis told The Athletic in his first spring training with the Mets in 2019. “With the way pitchers are pitching you these days or changing the way they pitch you, that might work for a while, but what happens when it stops working? To me, a line drive is always the objective of a swing — trying to hit the ball hard, trying to square the ball up with a line drive. You allow yourself for misses.

[Centerfield]

=Ceetar post_id=62986 time=1620146094 user_id=102]
quotes from his hiring. I haven't found one since.

“For me, trying to hit the ball in the air doesn't work,” Davis told The Athletic in his first spring training with the Mets in 2019. “With the way pitchers are pitching you these days or changing the way they pitch you, that might work for a while, but what happens when it stops working? To me, a line drive is always the objective of a swing — trying to hit the ball hard, trying to square the ball up with a line drive. You allow yourself for misses.

[LWFS]

Some still can. Harper. Trout. Hell, Piss Missile went about as "opposite way" as a guy with his power can go all the damn time during his breakout season.



To my main purpose...

Lefty Specialist wrote: Don't know if any hitting coach can fix Lindor right now. And Rojas doesn't have the guts to bat him 7th or 8th.

There was an interesting bit of business from Harold Reynolds on MLB Network last night, tucked in among the there's-no-respect-for-the-veteran-coaching-voice and telling-guys-to-go-the-opposite-way-to-break-a-slump-is-verboten old-man grumbles.



He led a side-by-side comparative dissection of Lindor's swings from this season and a varying selection of plate appearances from 2015-2019. Unless he's cherry-picking, it seems Lindor's got his hands lower/more lax during the latter-day swings, giving himself too much to do/less time to get properly into the load portion of his swing, and making almost every swing rushed or late.

[Ceetar]

some good players do that, others don't. Some just drive the ball to one side anyway, and still succeed.



Line drives can be caught be infielders, fly balls can't. That's mainly the difference. It's not a novel thing, the harder you hit it, the less time fielders have to field it, unless you hit it RIGHT AT them, which is why it tends to be better to get a little lift. And even if don't square it up necessarily, a fly ball can land in front of an outfielder for a hit, but no line drives land in front of infielders for hits. And then there's the double play thing.



We'll never really know what Chili's day to day process was. But if it doesn't mesh well with the front office, then he shouldn't be there, even if the Mets were 15-2.

[Centerfield]

=Ceetar post_id=63013 time=1620157195 user_id=102]
some good players do that, others don't. Some just drive the ball to one side anyway, and still succeed.



Line drives can be caught be infielders, fly balls can't. That's mainly the difference. It's not a novel thing, the harder you hit it, the less time fielders have to field it, unless you hit it RIGHT AT them, which is why it tends to be better to get a little lift. And even if don't square it up necessarily, a fly ball can land in front of an outfielder for a hit, but no line drives land in front of infielders for hits. And then there's the double play thing.



We'll never really know what Chili's day to day process was. But if it doesn't mesh well with the front office, then he shouldn't be there, even if the Mets were 15-2.

[bmfc1]

Apparently, Pete is sad and the players are unhappy. Here is a summary of Pete Alonso's comments today from Tim Healey:

[bLOCKQUOTE]Pete Alonso is not happy with -- and does not understand -- the Mets' decision to fire hitting coaches Chili Davis and Tom Slater last night, he said during a video news conference.

He said players were not informed by the Mets of the decision before the Mets announced it publicly. Alonso said he cried at his locker after players learned of the news via the internet.

Acting GM Zack Scott spoke to players today and gave the same non-specific explanation he offered to the media last night. Players, unhappy, spoke up.

"They know how we feel," Alonso said.[/bLOCKQUOTE]

[G-Fafif]

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

And I cried watching Alonso being the worst hitter in the league last year but I got over it

[Fman99]

Here's another reason why taking four extra days to do everything bites you in the hiney sometime. This move would have made more sense before the three straight games where the hitters all, you know, got hits and drove in runs. If it happens after the 1-0 loss on Friday in Philly, coming off of three straight games scoring less than two runs, that's when it's logical.

[Edgy MD]

Johnny Lunchbucket wrote: And I cried watching Alonso being the worst hitter in the league last year but I got over it

Alonso can still make this a tearjerkingly happy ending by leading his team to a World Championship and then voting Chili a full World Series share, dedicating his World Series MVP award to his mentor and friend.

[Ceetar]

=Fman99 post_id=63051 time=1620178824 user_id=86]
Here's another reason why taking four extra days to do everything bites you in the hiney sometime. This move would have made more sense before the three straight games where the hitters all, you know, got hits and drove in runs. If it happens after the 1-0 loss on Friday in Philly, coming off of three straight games scoring less than two runs, that's when it's logical.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Sherman does some reporting and you start to understand things. did anyone share this yet?



https://nypost.com/2021/05/04/inside-mets-chili-davis-firing-and-the-origin-of-donnie-stevenson/https://nypost.com/2021/05/04/inside-mets-chili-davis-firing-and-the-origin-of-donnie-stevenson/

Scott had observed hitting meetings — to Davis' annoyance, a source said — and what emerged in the front office's belief was a lack of individualized plans, mechanical adjustments and authoritative instruction in the meetings. Scott had been meeting with his subordinates about making a change. Alderson had been thinking similarly. Then after last Wednesday's 1-0 loss to the Red Sox in which the Mets had two hits, 15 strikeouts and were at one run in 18 innings with one ineffective, indecisive at-bat after another against Boston, the duo met and found themselves in unison. Manager Luis Rojas was not in simpatico. But he was outnumbered and outranked.

Davis had lost hitting coach jobs with the Red Sox (where Scott worked) and the Cubs because of the old/new conflict. Scott wanted to see if Davis had grown to embrace modern devices/strategies. So, he attended some hitting meetings — think a principal observing a teacher in a classroom. Scott did not see enough. Modern players have grown hungry for individual mechanical and statistical analyses, and many players seemed to be gravitating toward the analysts for help rather than the hitting coach.

[Edgy MD]

That's pretty clarifying.



I suspect Rojas' defense was more about loyalty to his crew than in believing in the the process that was unfolding.



At least, I hope so.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Loyalty to the crew, and maybe also the emotions of his players who probably don't really know what is best for them

[Ceetar]

I'm glad Rojas feels empowered to speak up to his bosses who didn't hire him, but it doesn't paint him as long for this role either.



It's that last that's key. 'gravitating toward the analysts for help'



If Pete Alonso is asking guys like me for help over Chili Davis, that's not good.

[Lefty Specialist]

Some still can. Harper. Trout. Hell, Piss Missile went about as "opposite way" as a guy with his power can go all the damn time during his breakout season. To my main purpose... Lefty Specialist wrote: Don't know if any hitting coach can fix Lindor right now. And Rojas doesn't have the guts to bat him 7th or 8th. There was an interesting bit of business from Harold Reynolds on MLB Network last night, tucked in among the there's-no-respect-for-the-veteran-coaching-voice and telling-guys-to-go-the-opposite-way-to-break-a-slump-is-verboten old-man grumbles. He led a side-by-side comparative dissection of Lindor's swings from this season and a varying selection of plate appearances from 2015-2019. Unless he's cherry-picking, it seems Lindor's got his hands lower/more lax during the latter-day swings, giving himself too much to do/less time to get properly into the load portion of his swing, and making almost every swing rushed or late.

And one would think that a hitting coach who's working his ass off would pick up on that sort of thing.

[G-Fafif]

Donnie Stevenson seems as recent as Mettle the Mule, but Ken Rosenthal offers an addendum to dazzling if brief career of the hitting approach coach who was not so long ago the talk of the town.

Donnie Stevenson was Pete Alonso. Multiple sources confirm it was the Mets' first baseman who fired up his fellow hitters on May 1 before they faced their former teammate, Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler. The Mets won 5-4 on a go-ahead homer by Michael Conforto in the top of the ninth inning – the first victory of a 7-2 run that has vaulted them to the top of the NL East. “Donnie's been great helping the team,” Alonso said afterward, describing “Stevenson” as a “nice new hire,” “great hitting/approach coach” and all-around savior. “Donnie really helped us today.” Alonso, in assuming his alter ego, wore a hat and sunglasses to the hitters' meeting, then delivered the most basic of messages, according to some in attendance: Let's stop over-thinking things. Let's just go out there, stick to our strengths and let it rip. The meeting, according to one attendee, lasted about four minutes. The players did not even talk about Wheeler, laughing, clapping and hooting instead. The results of Alonso's attempt to loosen up a tight club were impressive – the Mets scored four runs in seven innings against Wheeler, matching the most he has allowed this season. Two days later, after a 6-5 loss in St. Louis, the team fired hitting coach Chili Davis and assistant hitting coach Tom Slater. But the emergence of “Donnie” had nothing to do with those moves. As Joel Sherman reported in the New York Post, team president Sandy Alderson and general manager Zack Scott had decided to make a change even before Alonso transformed himself into “Donnie.” Alonso, in fact, was among the Mets most upset by the firings, and admitted to crying at his locker after hearing the news. He also was emotional in two subsequent conversations with Scott, sources said.

https://theathletic.com/2577809/2021/05/10/rosenthal-pete-alonso-behind-a-mets-mystery-the-red-soxs-unsung-hero-nick-madrigal-the-anti-2021-hitter/https://theathletic.com/2577809/2021/05/10/rosenthal-pete-alonso-behind-a-mets-mystery-the-red-soxs-unsung-hero-nick-madrigal-the-anti-2021-hitter/

[Willets Point]

This season is really weird.

[kcmets]

Someone tweet Uncle Steve and tell him we need a Donnie Stevenson Bobblehead Night!



#lgm #ygb #ymdyf