Official Release
The New York Mets today announced that hitting coach Lamar Johnson and assistant hitting coach Luis Natera will not return to their positions in 2015. Johnson and Natera have been offered positions within the minor league system.
“We appreciate the hard work of Lamar and Luis this year at the Major League level,” said Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson. “We hope they will continue to be part of the Mets organization in the future.”
Natera was named to the newly created position of assistant hitting coach on March 24. Johnson took over for Dave Hudgens, who was fired on May 26.
The Mets also announced that Mike Barwis, a strength and conditioning consultant to the Mets since 2011, has been appointed to oversee all Major League and Minor League strength and conditioning for the Mets organization.
Barwis, known for his “Barwis Methods” performance training programs for professional and amateur athletes, will remain a consultant, but will now be directly involved in the hiring and supervision of all Mets strength and conditioning coaches and will be responsible for implementing a system-wide performance training program.
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According to CBS’s Jon Heyman, the Mets have officially announced that Lamar Johnson will be replaced as hitting coach. Johnson and his assistant Luis Natera will not retain their roles within the organization. It is still unclear if they will be reassigned or released.
Johnson replaced Dave Hudgens after he was fired on May 27. There was no difference in batting or on-base after the switch.
While the Mets overall hitting rankings were not the worst in the National League, they struggled to hit with runners on base all year. They ranked seventh worst in baseball with 3.61 runners left in scoring position per game.
Bob Geren, Tim Teufel, Tom Goodwin and Dan Warthen will all return for the 2015 season.
