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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/

I am so there for the Quattlebombing.

I noticed my title typo and fixed it. I guess everything else followed.

Lennon https://www.newsday.com/sports/columnists/david-lennon/chili-davis-tom-slater-fired-mets-hitting-coach-1.50235832attempts to put pieces together, albeit from the same abundance-of-caution distance at which all media is operating (really cuts down on the ol' One Met Said). Mets general manager Zack Scott used a lot of global language late Monday night and into Tuesday morning to explain the sudden firings of hitting coach Chili Davis and assistant Tom Slater after only 23 games. Organizational vision. Support infrastructure. Philosophical process. Nonsense. It would have been more honest to mention the true culprit here: Donnie Stevenson. And if you're looking for a real person, maybe even the badly slumping Francisco Lindor, the $341 million shortstop who rightly has the ear of owner Steve Cohen, the new mayor of Panic City. Because once prominent Mets such as Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo started crediting some shadowy, presumably fictitious hitting guru for the club's offensive turnaround over the weekend in Philly, that pretty much signaled the end for Davis and Slater, the previously respected hitting coaches who were actually in charge of the offense. To say otherwise just isn't being entirely truthful. If that had been an inside joke, fine. But to trumpet "Diesel Donnie" — as Alonso referred to him after Sunday's ESPN broadcast — so publicly was at the very least disrespectful to Davis and Slater, greasing the skids for the late-night axing following Tuesday's 6-5 loss to the Cardinals. I asked Scott if something profound had happened over the weekend, maybe a reason why the players abruptly decided Mr. Stevenson now was more integral to a two-game winning streak where the Mets banged out 17 hits Sunday night and batted .325 (25-for-77), along with a remarkable .429 (9-for-21) with runners in scoring position. But the GM didn't see the timing of the decision as significant. "I'm not sure I'm completely understanding your question," Scott said. "I mean, I think you'd have to ask the players about ‘Donnie.' But I guess the one thing I'll comment on is, obviously we had a lot of hits. The last couple of nights scored some runs. I think that should highlight that this isn't about recent results. This is about the process behind the scenes. "And whether we were not hitting with runners in scoring position or knocking 17 hits, it's not about that. It's too early to be overreacting to small samples of results." Tell that to Cohen, who pledged before the season these Mets (11-12) are going to make the playoffs. And to Lindor, who again looked lost at the plate Monday night, going 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts that sunk him further into an 0-for-21 hole that has appeared 10 times worse. Lindor whiffed badly in his first two at-bats, swinging wildly at Adam Wainwright curveballs, and stranded six more runners, a rapidly escalating body count that should require his removal from the No. 2 hole until he gets well down below in the order. It may be only 23 games into the season, but Lindor isn't even hitting his weight (.163) and has only two extra-base hits in 86 at-bats. We expect Lindor to pull himself out of this nosedive, of course. But "early" is of little consolation to him, and Cohen surely doesn't want to see Mr. Smile, the face of his franchise, miserable each night. With that in mind, I also asked Scott if Lindor's struggles had a direct effect on the removal of Davis and Slater. The GM didn't say no. "I mean, not specific to Francisco, I guess the way I look at it is we know players are going to struggle," Scott said. "What someone in my position needs to think about is our infrastructure and our support system in place, when they do struggle. Is it the best that it can possibly be? Because when the players struggle, that's when they need the support more than ever. "The assessment was it needed to be better. We need to be providing these guys more support, a higher level of support. It's not that they weren't getting any support. They obviously were. But it's just an effort to improve how we go about things to take it to the next level." As much as Scott tried to downplay the results as a factor, do you think Davis and Slater would have been canned if the Mets were 18-5? Or Lindor was producing like the MVP candidate Cohen thought he paid for? No way. You don't mess with success for the sake of organizational vision. Scott now has his better fits in new hitting coach Hugh Quattlebaum and assistant Kevin Howard, two actual names you can find in the media guide. But if the Mets don't straighten themselves out before long, don't be surprised if you hear more about Diesel Donnie again, only next time he'll be driving the bus over manager Luis Rojas.

I kind of inferred “Donnie” was the manifestation of some sort of power of positive thinking pep talk from Chili, a la Tug going nuts after Grant told the boys the front office still believed in them. Perhaps it was a larger cry for help.

Scott throwing around “support system” a lot. Quite a buzzword.

Zack Scott's between-the-lines explanation sounds like “Chili was old and set in ways we didn't believe in.”

Official release: FLUSHING, N.Y., May 3, 2021 — The New York Mets have announced tonight that the club has relieved hitting coach Chili Davis and assistant hitting coach Tom Slater of their duties, effective immediately. The club has named Hugh Quattlebaum the team's new hitting coach and Kevin Howard the new assistant hitting coach. Both will be in St. Louis on Tuesday. Quattlebaum, 42, joined the Mets organization this offseason as the minor league director of hitting development. He had spent the previous three seasons with Seattle. Quattlebaum was the Mariners' minor league hitting coordinator in 2018–2019 and was the assistant hitting coach with the Major League team during 2020. Prior to working with the Mariners, he was coaching and consulting in Southern California. Quattlebaum was drafted by Detroit in the 25th round of the 2000 First-Year Player Draft from Amherst College (MA). He spent four years in the Tigers (2000–2002) and Orioles (2003) minor league systems. Howard, 39, joined the Mets this year as the organization's director of player development. He spent the previous six seasons in Cleveland's organization, including 2019–2020 as the minor league hitting coordinator. Howard played professionally for 12 seasons, playing in the Reds, Yankees, Phillies, Dodgers, Mariners, Padres, Blue Jays and Cardinals organizations before spending the final two years of his playing career in Independent ball. He was originally drafted in the fifth round of the 2003 First-Year Player Draft by Cincinnati. Howard earned a bachelor's degree in Business Management from the University of Miami, where played collegiately for three seasons, winning a National Championship in 2001. Davis was in his third season as the Mets hitting coach and Slater was in his fourth season as the team's assistant hitting coach.

Zack Scott says it's about process.

Alomar has resigned from HOF board (he's still a Hall of Famer).

Caleb Joseph has been released.

McNeil 2B Lindor SS Conforto RF Alonso 1B D. Smith LF Pillar CF Villar 3B Nido C Lucchesi LHP

Davis to IL, Hildenberger up.

Zamora down, Lucchesi up.

Jacob deGrom is your National League Pitcher of the Month for April.

Kurt Streeter of the Times asks Johnny Bench about some Hall of Fame friends he's lost of late. “He was probably the best man's man you'd ever want to be around,” said Bench, who caught Seaver's powerful pitches for Cincinnati from 1977 until 1982. “He played on many different teams, and on each one he had the respect and admiration and the love from all the players around him. I mean, he was Tom Seaver after all.” Of course, Bench spoke of Seaver's gusting fastball and pinpoint accuracy. And how a pitcher like that — smart, powerful, iron tough — made life easy for a catcher. But it wasn't Seaver's mastery from the mound that Bench really wanted to discuss. It was the bond they shared. Their long discussions. Their tongue-in-cheek banter. After his baseball career ended in 1986, Seaver retired to California and became a winemaker. Bench remembered trying to get a case from Seaver's winery at a discount. But Seaver at first told him no. “I said: ‘Tom, I'm your catcher! What if I buy two cases?' He said, ‘No, no, no.' So I said, ‘Tom, if I hadn't put down the right signals, you wouldn't even be in the Hall of Fame!' Oh, we had a great time with that. That's the way we laughed. We just shared so much fun.” https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/sports/baseball/johnny-bench-hall-of-fame-deaths.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/sports/baseball/johnny-bench-hall-of-fame-deaths.html

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J.D. and Brandon each nursing their bruises. McNeil 2B Lindor SS Conforto RF Alonso 1B D. Smith LF Pillar CF Villar 3B McCann C Peterson LHP