Steve Cohen decided to Tweet this morning. What’s gone from friendly banter has turned into worrying what the Mets owner says next. On Wednesday he questioned the results and play of his players.
It’s hard to understand how professional hitters can be this unproductive.The best teams have a more disciplined approach.The slugging and OPS numbers don’t lie.
— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) August 18, 2021
Questioned by a follower why he would even make the tweet, Cohen made a cantankerous reply asking if the person set the “Twitter rules.”
Cohen and Mets fans have watched the season slip away since the trade deadline. They have reason to be upset at the recent performance. Losers of five straight games to the Dodgers and Giants the Mets are in free fall. With eight games left against the two premier teams of the National League there needed to be a wake-up call. Now the Mets players and coaches are left to answer Cohen’s questions.
“A lot of the guys know Steve (Cohen) here,” manager Luis Rojas said pregame. “We know where it’s coming from and understand the message.”
Consistent viewers of the Mets know the offensive struggles are not a recent development. New York’s core of Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, Dominic Smith, J.D. Davis has not delivered what they’re capable of this season. Alonso leads the Mets with 26 home runs, Jonathan Villar is second with 14. No qualified batter is hitting higher than .253.
The Mets know they’re underperforming. According to Rojas the players are taking the message sent by Cohen the right way and are ready to work.
This isn’t the first drama surrounding the Mets offense this season. In May the Mets fired hitting coach Chili Davis and replaced him with Hugh Quattlebaum. Francisco Lindor‘s lack of production early in the season was hammered into the national spotlight. The players even brought in pseudo-hitting coach Donnie Stevenson as a motivational tool. They’ve tried to reverse the trend yet nothing has worked.
“I need to do better for the guys,” Quattlebaum said. “They’re out there busting their butts literally every day. It’s not a work ethic thing. They’re in the cages, they’re trying to do their homework.
Quattlebaum’s first foray as a major league hitting coach is with the Mets. He previously was the Mariners minor league hitting coordinator. When Davis was let go the Mets were batting .241 as a team. Today they’re batting .235.
“We felt like the players needed a different level of support, and maybe some different skills brought into the mix,” Mets acting general manager Zack Scott said in May.
“Our hitting coaches are more thorough with data than in the past,” Rojas said Wednesday. “There’s more information being exhausted to the guys. That would be the only difference. As far as their approach and identity we have offensively this has been preached to a lot of guys coming up.”
Rojas speculates the comments made by Cohen could have a positive impact on the team. The Mets don’t have much farther to fall already ranking 25th in runs created. They’re below average across the board.
“Whatever we can do to get better is all we’re thinking about,” Quattlebaum said.
Rojas and Cohen have not spoken personally about the tweet.
“We all need to be held accountable for our performance,” Rojas said.
