Right here we go once more.
Chavez was rightfully offended, and took to his Instagram tales concerning the difficulty.
The story was posted on X with the caption, “Eric Chavez tried to change Juan Soto’s approach during the slugger’s first season with the Mets.” The anecdote used was a dialogue between Chavez and supervisor Carlos Mendoza, concerning how Soto takes pitches early in counts.
“I’ll be honest, there were times where, myself, and I even talked to Carlos about if we could get him to swing maybe 0-0 or some pitches he could do damage on early in counts,” Chavez informed the hosts. “But Juan, he is a precision hitter, I wouldn’t get him out of his comfort zone at all.”
That’s not precisely attempting to “change Soto’s approach” on the plate.
The author, John Flanigan, didn’t essentially do something incorrect. In journalistic phrases, this story is taken into account an aggregation. When aggregating from one other supply, like quotes from a present or a podcast look, it’s important to give correct attribution — which he did by linking to the interview clip, and explaining the place the quote got here from. Supporting info, like stats, had been additionally included.
Nevertheless, Chavez isn’t incorrect in asserting that the story was deceptive.
Chavez was answering a query from former MLB catcher Erik Kratz about whether or not or not he would ever recommend that Soto ought to strive swinging at pitches outdoors of the zone. Kratz requested if a hitter in the midst of the lineup might theoretically drive in 130 runs if he by no means swung at pitches out of the zone.
It appears like a dialog Chavez and Mendoza had that by no means got here to fruition. The Mets had info on how groups had been attempting to pitch Soto, and it’s the job of the coaches to make strategies and give you new concepts primarily based on the data supplied, particularly when the workforce isn’t performing to its capabilities.
Plus, whereas Soto completed with numbers typical of what we’re used to seeing from the celebrity slugger, he began sluggish. Soto hit simply .241 in March and April, and .219 in Might with a .345 on-base share. A few of that was luck — as Chavez talked about earlier within the interview — as is evidenced by Soto’s .211 BaBIP in Might.
Followers had been able to rage when Soto checked out known as strikes early within the season. For some motive, they latched on to Chavez, blaming him for every thing that went incorrect with the Mets’ offense, although Barnes and Mendoza took loads of warmth too. The coach was frequently attacked on social media, and fought again steadily, angering followers even additional.
The gamers weren’t pleased with how Chavez and even his co-hitting coach, Jeremy Barnes, had been being handled by the fanbase. They felt followers failed to grasp simply how tough their job is.
For what it’s price, I requested J.D. Martinez final yr if he had any curiosity in turning into a hitting coach. On the time, he didn’t, principally as a result of, nicely, it’s a robust job, but additionally as a result of he was nonetheless enjoying and hoping to proceed enjoying.
One thing else of observe from Chavez within the interview: He felt that two hitting coaches was too many. Initially, the Mets favored how Chavez and Barnes every introduced totally different views and totally different philosophies. For essentially the most half, that remained the case in 2025, however it additionally led to a difficulty of getting an excessive amount of info that turned robust for gamers to digest. There have been some musings about it through the season.
It might have been a kind of issues that wasn’t a difficulty after they had been successful, however as soon as the shedding began and the Mets desperately looked for solutions, it turned one thing.
In the long run, Soto had a unbelievable season, almost going 40-40 and main all of baseball with 127 walks. Soto spoke extremely of Chavez and Barnes, however it issues little for the reason that two of them gained’t be returning subsequent season anyway.
“The coaches, they definitely advise us, and they definitely try and help us, and they try and do the best that they can and give us all the information that they possibly can,” outfielder Brandon Nimmo stated earlier than the tip of the season. “Ultimately, it comes down to us and us executing out there. So I think the responsibility falls on us as the players.”
