SYRACUSE, N.Y. — One day after the organization fired hitting coach Chili Davis and his assistant Tom Slater, New York Mets president Sandy Alderson was in in Syracuse on Tuesday to help unveil renovations at NBT Bank Stadium ahead of the Triple-A season opener against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
The Mets are 11-12 and are batting .240/.324/.364 as a team. Their .688 OPS ranks 20th in the majors.
“Well, it was a decision that we felt we needed to make,” Alderson said. “And, you know, it’s unfortunate that you have to make a change of any sort during the season. I think there’s a perception that, you know, we’re early in the year and things tend to level out. I think that we were more focused on process, preparation than on results. And so we felt this was something that we needed to do. We have an obligation to support our players, the manager and get the most out of our, our team. And so, you know, there’s some downside risk associated with this, obviously. Anytime you make a change. But I think we were fully convicted that this is something we needed to do. And Chili Davis and Tom Slater are both great people. It’s not really a reflection on them as much as it is on sort of where we are as an organization, where we want to be.
The Mets moved Hugh Quattlebaum, previously the franchise’s minor league director of hitting development, into the hitting coach role and made Kevin Howard, director of player development, his assistant.
Conor Foley goes beyond the box score with in-depth coverage of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. He has worked at The Times-Tribune since graduating from University of Scranton in 2011, and he has covered the RailRiders since 2017. Contact: cfoley@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9125; or @railridersTT
