Skip to content

Mets 'need to clean house,' says former hitting coach Davis

Joel Auerbach / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Former New York Mets hitting coach Chili Davis didn't hold back when asked recently to describe his tenure with, and assess the future of, his former employers.

"That organization needs a big turnaround, they need to clean house," the 61-year-old told the New York Post's Mike Puma.

"Some of the people that have been there so long during those dismal years, they need to bring some fresh faces and baseball people in there."

Davis, who was fired in May, spoke poorly of the Mets' overreliance on analytics, which he believes stems from the philosophical approach of former acting general manager Zack Scott.

"To be honest, I don't think Zack Scott was a baseball person," Davis said of the recently fired executive. "He was the head of analytics in Boston. He was an analytical guy. That's where he belonged - in analytics."

When Scott took over as acting GM following Jared Porter's dismissal, he replaced Davis and assistant hitting coach Tom Slater with Hugh Quattlebaum and Kevin Howard from the club's player development department.

The Mets went on to produce poor offensive results under the pair, ranking 17th in wRC+, 20th in on-base percentage, and 25th in runs scored, according to FanGraphs. While Davis' results were just as bad leading up to his firing, the club flourished under his tutelage in 2020, finishing with MLB's highest wRC+ and second-best on-base percentage.

"I was told it's not about the results, it's about the process," Davis said of his dismissal. "Well, if the process doesn't produce positive or good results, then the process is worthless because it's not a good process. The process is making your players better. It's a bullcrap statement to tell me it's not about the results, it's about the process."

Davis also cited a different clubhouse vibe and poor, sometimes incorrect, information being handed to the coaches by the front office as reasons for New York's underwhelming on-field results last season.

The Mets finished the 2021 campaign third in the National League East with a 77-85 record despite owning the league's third-highest payroll.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox