New Mets hitting coach Kevin Long gave Dan Martin of the New York Post a player by player progress report as the team enjoyed a day off on Wednesday.
“I’ve seen good things from a lot of these guys,” the hitting coach said. “Kirk Nieuwenhuis has been good. Ruben Tejada has been better. And Wilmer Flores, he just doesn’t miss. If you throw a strike, he’s going to do damage.”
Long admits that while those unproven players could play key roles this season, the Mets aren’t going to win without serious contributions from Daniel Murphy, Curtis Granderson and David Wright, and especially Wright.
“That ball he hit was impressive,” Long said. “If he hits a couple more like that, he should be off and running.”
Long said he went back to 2006 to look at tape of Wright, when he was a perennial All-Star and in the midst of regularly hitting 25-30 home runs a year.
“We’re just trying to get that muscle-memory back again,” Long said. “If he stays healthy, there’s no reason he can’t have that kind of power.”
Interesting to note in Martin’s article is how Michael Cuddyer is kind of keeping to his own routines.
“I’m not a very mechanical guy,” the new Met said. “I don’t get into studying video. For me, it’s about attitude. All I want is someone who is going to be in my corner and be positive. That’s what he’s been.”
A reader asked me my thoughts on Long last night to which my reply was:
“I know many will disagree with me, but I think Long was one of the best acquisitions we made this offseason. Have you seen Lagares at the plate? He’s completely transformed his approach. Plus I see Mayberry, Granderson, Nieuwenhuis killing the ball, Wright is now getting hot too, and let’s not forget Flores.”
“Are the Mets leading the league in OBP, AVG and OPS this Spring by coincidence? I don’t think so.”
