Now that the New York Mets have their manager in place, the next step in the offseason process is filling out Carlos Beltrán’s coaching staff.
The Mets have been in talks with last year’s hitting coach Chili Davis in hopes of retaining his services, but the two sides have yet to come to terms on a new contract. According to Mike Puma, Davis has indicated to team brass that he is looking for a multi-year deal to return, which may be a sticking point in the negotiation process.
Davis took over as the Mets hitting coach for the 2019 season, with an eye towards making New York a more traditional offensive team. Davis wanted to implement a better two-strike approach, focusing on cutting down on strikeouts and improving situational hitting, while focusing less on the home run or bust mentality of the past.
The Mets offense did improve greatly under Davis, going from the 20th-ranked offense in baseball in 2018, to the 11th-best in 2019. While Davis should receive some credit for the Mets uptick in production, the addition of Pete Alonso and his record-setting 53 home runs can explain a lot of that success as well.
In 2018, the Mets combined to hit .234/.312/.389, with 676 runs scored. With Davis as the hitting coach, the Mets improved to hit .257/.328/.442, scoring 791 runs.
The Mets offense should only get better this season adding a Hall of Fame set of eyes to the bench in Beltrán. Whether Davis will join him and return as Beltrán’s hitting coach is yet to be determined.
