The Mets have hired Braves minor league hitting coordinator Johnny Washington as a co-hitting coach alongside Troy Snitker, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post . Having multiple hitting coaches is normal in the modern game. Typically, even when they share a title, one of the coaches is typically the lead coach. It is not yet known whether Snitker or Washington will be the lead, though Snitker would seem to be the better fit, as he was with the Mets in the majors in 2026.
Washington previously served on Mets manager Andy Green‘s Padres coaching staff as an assistant hitting coach. He continues a trend by Green of hiring coaches he has worked with before and ones that previously played in the major leagues or minor leagues.
Washington started his coaching career in the Dodgers organization, coaching in their minor league system before heading to the Padres, where he served first as the first base coach and then the assistant hitting coach. He spent some time coaching in the KBO before serving as the Cubs’ assistant hitting coach from 2022 to 2023. He was the hitting coach for the Angels from 2024-2025 before joining the Braves in 2026. Many Braves offensive prospects took steps forward in the 2026 season, including Eric Hartman and Tate Southisene.
Washington is known for being skilled at tailoring hitting plans to individual hitters. In a 2023 Q&A with Sam Blum of The Athletic, Washington said, “We will work with each guy individually and figure out what their strengths and weaknesses are and try and put those guys in the best position to succeed and go from there. I wouldn’t come in with some type of philosophy, other than figure out what’s best for each guy.” When he was with the Cubs, Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times described his style as “building rapport and familiarity with their hitters by being authentic and letting the players open up.”
A notable moment from his career as a coach is that alongside Dustin Kelly, Washington was seen as a key figure in Cody Bellinger‘s resurgence in Chicago. Jake Mintz of Fox Sports wrote, “Kelly and Washington slightly altered Bellinger’s hand positioning pre-pitch and opened up his front side a smidge to increase the extent of his hip hinge. Those mechanical changes, alongside Bellinger returning to full health and his new outlook on two strikes, all contributed to the spectacular 2023 that is going to earn Bellinger a big bag of Benjamins at some point this winter.” Washington had previously worked with Bellinger when he was in the Dodgers minor league system.
