Mets owner Steve Cohen called out the Mets’ struggling offense on Twitter Wednesday morning, after the team managed just two runs in their fifth straight loss to fall below the .500 mark.
New York hitting coach Hugh Quattlebaum was asked about Cohen’s comments, and stood up for the Mets’ struggling hitters, who have managed to score more than five runs in a game just once since July 21, a span of nearly a month.
“Every single night, every day, all of us on this staff, myself as much as anybody, we’re going back trying to do everything we can to see what we can do better as a group,” Quattlebaum said before Wednesday’s matinee against the Giants. “Obviously we want to put up as many runs as possible every day…whatever we can do to do better on a daily basis is all we’re thinking about.”
Cohen said it was “hard to understand how professional hitters can be this unproductive,” adding that the “best teams have a more disciplined approach.” The comments were curious given the Mets’ lone move to address the offense at the trade deadline was to acquire shortstop Javier Baez, a prolific power bat that ranks among the worst in the league in terms of plate discipline. But even New York’s previously established hitters have struggled for much of the season, and even making a move to Quattlebaum from Chili Davis earlier in the season wasn’t enough to get the bats going.
“We don’t want to be a moving target,” Quattlebaum said. “We want to have consistency for the guys as well. That’s all I’m thinking about every night, and we need to do better.”
Quattlebaum placed some of the blame on himself when addressing Cohen’s notable tweet. But regardless of who is at fault, it needs to be addressed in a hurry, as the Mets sit 4.5 games out of first while the offense continues to show little signs of life.
“I need to do better for the guys,” Quattlebaum said. “They’re out there busting their butts literally every day. It's not a work ethic thing. They're in the cages, they're trying to do their homework.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
Follow WFAN on Social Media
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube | Twitch