The defensive transformation of the Mets started practically as quickly because the 2025 season ended. One of many membership’s first large strikes towards higher run prevention in 2025 was to rent Kai Correa as Carlos Mendoza’s bench coach, a 37-year-old described as a “defensive mastermind” all through baseball circles.
A local of Hilo, Hawaii, Correa involves the Mets after two seasons with the Cleveland Guardians. Previous to that, Correa held his first bench coach function with the San Francisco Giants beneath supervisor Gabe Kapler. Correa’s function with Cleveland was in depth, as is evidenced by his full title with the Guardians — area coordinator/director of protection, baserunning and sport technique — exhibiting simply how a lot he impacted the workforce.
“Kai comes to us is really one of the best defensive coaching minds in the game,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns stated not too long ago. “He’s someone who has established a reputation from people he’s worked with and players he’s coached repeatedly. He’s innovative, [he] can really move teams and organizations forward on that side of the ball.”
Guardians supervisor Stephen Vogt described him as “one of the smartest minds in baseball” in an October radio interview. Cleveland has been identified for it’s staunch protection with Correa, with the Guardians proudly owning the third-best Fangraphs defensive rating in 2025 and the fourth-best in 2024.
Those that have labored with him say he’s successfully capable of mix old-school values with new-school approaches. He’s data-driven, utilizing analytics for defensive positioning, however doesn’t rely solely on analytics. He additionally understands the way to talk the analytical data to gamers who’ve various aptitudes for the knowledge. He can coach two completely different gamers in two other ways, getting elite outcomes from each.
Mark Vientos, a 3rd baseman who has but to have the ability to discover his footing on the sizzling nook (each actually and metaphorically), has been sending Correa movies of his offseason exercises.
“I’ve just heard so much good stuff about his knowledge of the game and how much he knows,” Vientos stated. “I’m excited.”
The Mets take into account Vientos a “bat-first” participant, however the 26-year-old has at all times been keen to enhance his protection. He’s placing in equal quantities of labor at third base and first base this winter, with the aim of having the ability to play a number of positions, and play them nicely.
“I’m working to maximize my potential, and I think right now, what I’m focused on is the range aspect,” Vientos stated. “That’s what all the coaches are kind of like pushing towards. I talked to Kai, and he’s the one that’s been telling me about that.”
Correa by no means performed at a excessive stage himself, together with his highest stage of baseball being his 4 years as an infielder at Division III College of Puget Sound, a small liberal arts faculty in Tacoma, Wash. Instantly after graduating, Correa started his teaching profession together with his alma mater, then went to the College of Northern Colorado for 4 seasons.
When he began posting movies of infield drills on social media, the skilled baseball world took discover.
The Mets have been comparatively stable since Stearns took over the baseball operations efforts, however not practically nearly as good as hoped. They’ve dynamic defenders able to making highlight-reel performs, and elite defenders up the center with shortstop Francisco Lindor, second baseman Marcus Semien and heart fielder Tyrone Taylor, however as a complete, there have been too many occasions when lax play was expensive and the Mets appeared to overlook the basics. This was very true in 2025.
Correa can be tasked with making a very good group nice, and serving to to maximise their collective and particular person defensive skills.
“I think coaches can impact players in a number of different ways. At a base level it’s, what drills are we asking players to do? How are we catering some of our instruction to individual player needs, how are we working with players on a daily basis?” Stearns stated. “Then, sure, a few of the in-game technique components that coaches are engaged on day in and day trip with some members of our entrance workplace. It’s the coach’s job and accountability to execute and make these actual in sport selections about a few of our defensive methods.
“Kai has distinguished himself in all those areas throughout his career, and we think he’s really going to help our organization.”
