Insight On New Mets Batting Coach Dave Hudgens

Adam Rubin at ESPN-NY just posted an article about new Mets batting coach Dave Hudgens, with direct quotes from Bobby Kielty, who played under Hudgens in Oakland.

Interestingly, Kielty claimed that Hudgens didn’t force patience and OBP on his hitters:

“He’s not,” Kielty said. “He’s going to take the player and pretty much what he’s good at, he’s going to try to make sure he’s performing the way he performs. I don’t think he was ever about taking a player and making him a guy who is going to go up there and walk — a guy who is going to go up there and take pitches. From what I remember, he always was about being aggressive and finding the pitch that you’re looking for. If you don’t see it, you take it, and that kind of works into walks. That was his whole kind of thing — when you get pitches to hit, we’re not going to go up there taking them. That’s what I saw from him. … He wasn’t going to go change somebody. He was going to let them do their thing, and if they start struggling, he might bring some things up. But he wasn’t a guy who has one certain philosophy. He was willing to work on what guys needed to work on.”

In a related story, several Mets reported early to spring training upon hearing the news that Hudgens was hired.