The Mets are again in the market for hitting help, and John Mallee has started to surface as a name worth watching.
Mallee is already tied to Kevin Long on the coaching search front, but the real hook here is his relationship with Pete Crow-Armstrong, the former Mets prospect who has become a glaring what-if for New York. According to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, Mallee has a close connection with Crow-Armstrong, which is enough to put him on a short list for any team looking for a hitting coach.
The appeal is pretty easy to see. Mallee doesn’t get credit for whatever award Crow-Armstrong might eventually win, but he did help turn a player who looked like he might top out as an average-power bat into someone who hit 31 home runs and is now up to 45.
That kind of transformation gets noticed. It also matters for a Mets roster that already has a few young left-handed hitters and more prospects approaching the majors.
If the goal is to find a coach who has already helped unlock a young star, Mallee has a strong case.
There’s another layer to this, too: the Cubs just had one of the best offenses in the game. They finished first in OPS and runs scored, second in OBP, third in home runs and sixth in batting average. Crow-Armstrong was the biggest piece of that, though former Mets outfielder Michael Conforto also contributed with an .800 OPS in part-time duty.
At the same time, the Mets can’t treat a coaching search like a name-only exercise. They need to decide who fits their identity and what kind of voice they want in the room. The fit has to make sense for them, not just for the coach’s résumé.
Mallee’s background gives him plenty of mileage. He was a Phillies hitting coach before being fired in August of 2019 during a slump that knocked the team out of playoff contention.
After that came three years with the Angels, then a return to the Cubs, first as a Triple-A hitting coach before moving back to the majors. This was also his second stint with Chicago after he had already served as the team’s hitting coach from 2014 to 2017 before being replaced by Chili Davis.
He’d also bring a different perspective than Troy Snitker or Rafael Fernandez. Mallee has been in coaching since 1996. Snitker and Fernandez were born eight years later in 1988.
That kind of experience still matters in this kind of search. And when coaches are often judged by the players they’ve helped most, Mallee has one obvious selling point: he has a proven positive connection with Crow-Armstrong.
Long has Daniel Murphy and a good relationship with Juan Soto. Mallee has Crow-Armstrong.
Which one do the Mets need more? The answer may come down to which recent success story they trust most.
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Mets Took A Big Center Field Gamble And Fans Can Finally Judge It
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By the time Robert was ready to return, the Mets had already made their choice about where the long-term value was. Ewings role only grew in Roberts absence, and the organization ultimately let Robert go on waivers to the Orioles rather than hold onto a player tied to a $20 million option. It left New York with a clearer picture of the gamble it took in center field, even if the final evaluation will keep unfolding from here. [Read more 🡒]