 |
| Lamar Johnson. Photo Credit: Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times |
When the Mets decided to fire hitting coach Dave Hudgens this past Monday, it did not come as much of a surprise with the struggles that the offense for New York has been dealing with. In comes new hitting coach Lamar Johnson, who walks into one of the biggest challenges in all of baseball right now: turning around the Mets offense.
By: Michael Hanley
Johnson who is a former player and hitting coach with the Brewers, Royals and Mariners from 1995-2003,has experience with a majority of these players as he has been doing work throughout their minor league system as a minor league hitting coordinator for years now, dating back to the prior arrival of general manager Sandy Alderson and manager Terry Collins. Johnson has a good knowledge of what the organization is looking for its hitters to do at the plate and how to get the most out of them.
The Mets organization ever since Sandy Alderson came on board as GM has preached throughout its minor leagues and big league club of being patient at the plate, being selective when it comes to finding the right pitch to hit. It goes back to his days with the Oakland A’s who were always about being patient at the plate, drawing walks, having a high on base percentage etc. According to Lamar Johnson, that philosophy is paying off dividends from what he has seen the last couple of years. Here is what he said to Roger Rubin of the New York Daily News on his observations of that hitting philosophy:
"The philosophy has been working well for us in the minor leagues. We've got guys now that have been a lot more patient and we're scoring a lot more runs," Johnson said. "Our on-base percentage has gone up the last two or three years. Everything is working out pretty good."
It has been a philosophy that has been proven successful with the Athletics & Red Sox who have been able to fit their talent to this way of hitting and been able to get the most out of that talent for the greater good of the team and organization.
For the Mets, its still a work in progress but fans have to be encouraged that Johnson feels like the minor leagues have benefited from that patient approach. Those are players that will be on their way up to the big league club within the next couple of years to hopefully give the team some much needed offensive punch.
For the current team, its been nothing but a major struggle so far this season. They currently have a paltry .237 team batting average, easily one of the worst in all of the major leagues. Their on base percentage of .310 ranks 23rd in baseball and have only scored 192 runs, also 23rd amongst all teams. That is quite allot for Johnson to turn around and bring from weaknesses to strengths especially in the middle of the season.
Its a lineup that is not overly talented and one not full of power bats. Johnson will have to find a way to max out the potential of each batter in the lineup whether its focusing on singles and doubles instead of the home run or encouraging working more walks. A pitcher's park in Citi Field is one that not a great place to hit home runs, it is one that is spacious enough to hit a lot of singles and doubles which can add up and become a very solid and productive way to produce offense.
Sometimes a new voice is needed to recharge and energize a group of players who have fallen deaf to the old message of how to hit. Lamar Johnson definitely has what it takes to turn the misfortunes of the Mets offense around, the fans and organization will need to be patient and give him time.
