In 2014, the Mets had a .239 team batting average, ranking 28th in baseball. Their .308 on-base percentage ranked 22nd in the game, their .364 slugging percentage 27th. Those struggles contributed to two Mets hitting coaches in a period of six months being relieved of their duties.
So, is there a reason to believe the installation of new hitting coach Kevin Long – the former Yankee hitting coach who was relieved of his duties following the 2014 season – can improve the Mets offense, a club filled with lesser names and many who have struggled in recent years?
Perhaps Long – who was dubbed by Terry Collins as a, “celebrity coach” when camp opened in February – and his experiences and stories could contribute to finding some more consistency for Mets hitters.
Much has been made of Long’s early impact with the club to this point in Spring Training, as he’s received high marks from several notable Mets hitters to date.
In particular, Daniel Murphy has been soaking in the experiences Long has shared, hoping to learn from the success his hitters have had over the years.
“When someone has the kind of experience he does, you always want to pick his brain,” Murphy recently told the New York Post. “I want to know what those guys like A-Rod and Jeter think about, given their level of success at the big league level.”
Long’s approach and methodology are rather simple, although he realizes it will be a challenge to get his hitters execute the approach synchronously.
“It’s not about taking pitches,” Long explained to reporters last month. “It’s about getting a good pitch that you can do damage to and if it doesn’t present itself then you have to take it. If a walk is available, certainly we want that. What needs to happen here is we need to get more efficient with the damage we do and hitting in general.”
Long specifically has said he intends to revert Curtis Granderson’s hitting approach back to what it was during his time in the Bronx.
“There are a couple of minor things that we’re working on,” Long explained about Granderson last month. “One is getting his hands into a consistent position and getting him to feel the consistency that he had, the shortness to the ball, obviously the compact swing he had, the explosiveness.”
Long also believes David Wright’s injured shoulder in 2014 directly contributed to his struggles at the plate.
“If you saw him cutting off his swing and not getting through baseballs, or not driving the ball, you can put two and two together and probably say that had something to do with it,” Long said.
In return, Long has earned the immediate respect and admiration of the Mets captain in Spring Training, like Murphy appreciating the work he did with so many stars on the Yankees.
“[Long is] one of the best at his job in the league,” Wright told the New York Times last week. “He commands respect from Day 1. He’s an attention grabber. As hitters, we tend to gravitate toward him because he’s worked with some of the best players in the game.”
All of this talk is certainly encouraging, but time will tell over the course of the season. Ultimately, talent prevails regardless of anything else, and the voices won’t matter if their middle-of-the-order bats in Wright and Granderson struggle again in 2015. But all hitters – as Murphy hinted to – hang their hats on routines and preparation to a degree, and that in turn could lead to new or improved habits and tendencies in the batters box.
“I’m going to ask these guys to do some things that maybe are uncomfortable, to make some adjustments, to do some things that I believe will maximize their ability,” Long explained. “There’s some discomfort on my level because I haven’t been with these guys and I don’t know them as well as I knew the guys on the other side of town. I’m looking forward to kind of a new venture and a fresh start.”
Given their marks from last season, maybe a fresh start and some discomfort from Long wouldn’t hurt.
Just Mets 