Mets News
Johnny Washington Heads to Queens: Can a Padres-Era Hitting Coach Fix the Mets' Bats?
Johnny Washington reportedly joins Andy Green's staff as co-hitting coach. Here is what the move means for a Mets lineup that ranked near the bottom in OPS in 2026.
The Mets keep rebuilding the hallways of Citi Field, and the newest name is a hitting one. Johnny Washington, who is 42 and spent 2026 as the Braves' minor league hitting coordinator, is reportedly coming aboard as co-hitting coach for 2027. That is the part of this staff overhaul I care about most, because the lineup is where this team lost its edge.
Start with the résumé. Washington has bounced through the Dodgers, Padres, Angels and Cubs systems, spent time as a first-base coach in San Diego in 2017, and became the Padres' hitting coach in 2019. He also coached hitters in the KBO with Hanwha in 2021. Here is the detail that jumps out: that Padres stint was under Andy Green, the man now running the Mets' dugout. This is not a stranger being dropped into a clubhouse. It is a manager bringing back someone he already trusts to speak the same hitting language.
Now the arrangement. Washington joins Troy Snitker, who stays on as co-hitting coach after a single season in the role, and Rafael Fernandez returns as assistant hitting coach. Meanwhile Jeff Albert, the director of hitting, is gone after one year. So the Mets are not just adding a voice, they are reshuffling who owns the offensive plan. Add in the earlier hires of A.J. Ellis as strategy coordinator and Mariano Duncan to the big league staff, and you can see the shape of Green's coaching tree forming.
Why does it matter? Look at where the offense actually landed. The 2026 Mets finished tied for 23rd in the majors in OPS and tied for 20th in runs scored. For a club with Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor at the top of the card, that is not a rounding error. Stars can only carry so much of a lineup. The back half of the order has to produce, and too often this year it did not.
My honest fan take is that I like the instinct and want to see the follow-through. Two co-hitting coaches can work beautifully when the roles are clear, one leaning on swing mechanics and the other on game planning and approach. It can also get muddy when players hear two messages. Green having history with Washington should help, because the manager can set one vision and let both coaches carry it out.
There is also a bigger point. The Mets have a loud winter ahead, with the rotation question hanging over everything and Skubal's name floating around the free-agent conversation. But pitching alone will not fix a lineup that sat in the bottom third in OPS. Whatever the front office does on the trade and free-agent market, the development side has to make hitters better from the inside. This hire is a bet on exactly that.
One housekeeping note: the move has been reported from sources and had not been formally announced by the club when it surfaced, so treat it as very likely rather than official until the Mets say so.
What to watch next: whether the team names a farm director to replace Green's old post, since that person will shape hitting development from the bottom up, and whether any more bats join the staff before pitchers and catchers report. If the Mets want the lineup to match the star power on the roster, the hitting infrastructure is where it starts. I will be watching spring swings closely, and so should you.
