No Bench, Sherlock

[G-Fafif]

Heyman reports Eric Chavez will be Mets bench coach, Jeremy Barnes will be hitting coach and Glenn Sherlock will concentrate on catchers.

Glenn Sherlock, Showalter's right-hand man who served as bench coach last year, is to move to a role where he coaches the team's catchers and works to prevent the opposition running game via pitch calling. It's seen as a vital role, especially with the expectation that top prospect Francisco Alvarez will be on the team in 2023, if not at the beginning of the season than certainly at some point.

https://nypost.com/2022/11/28/mets-promote-eric-chavez-to-bench-coach-amid-several-changes/https://nypost.com/2022/11/28/mets-promote-eric-chavez-to-bench-coach-amid-several-changes/

[Edgy MD]

That's something. I thought the Mets were happy with Chavez as batting coach, not that moving to bench coach isn't sort of a promotion.

[Gwreck]

I suppose having a hitting specialist as a bench coach is a way to (somewhat) double-up on hitting coaches.

[G-Fafif]

Craig Bjornson won't be back as bullpen coach, per Puma the reporter, not the sneaker.

[Edgy MD]

That's a shame. Nobody stuffed a PitchCom into a hat quite like he did.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I wonder how that kind of firing goes. "Bjornsen, you did your best but we had a meeting and agree it's all your fault we screwed up the Braves series.



"Clean out your locker."

[Edgy MD]

Does this mean Sherlock takes over in-game bullpen duties?

[vtmet7]

Edgy MD wrote: Does this mean Sherlock takes over in-game bullpen duties?

I'm thinking that it means that he's Francisco Alvarez's personal coach...

[vtmet7]

Edgy MD wrote: That's something. I thought the Mets were happy with Chavez as batting coach, not that moving to bench coach isn't sort of a promotion.

I read somewhere that one reason was that they were afraid of losing Jeremy Barnes to another team if they didn't promote him to hitting coach; plus our GM has a history with Chavez so he's getting fast-tracked a bit with a potential to be manager or in the front office eventually...

[Edgy MD]

That makes some sense.



Catching instructors are a good thing to have, but they don't have a lot to do during games. Bullpen coaches have a lot of in-game duties in their job descriptions, but at all other times, the players in their unit are the responsibility of the pitching coach or coaches. So a bullpen coach/catching coach hybrid is a workable way to operate.

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: Bullpen coaches have a lot of in-game duties in their job descriptions

... including tending to the tomato plants.

Later