Mets promote Jeff Albert to hitting coach after staff dismantled

Following a purge last week, the Mets have moved to fill a key coaching vacancy.

Jeff Albert, the organization’s director of hitting, will oversee the major league team’s hitting program, according to an industry source.

Albert, 44, previously served as Cardinals hitting coach in 2018 after beginning his MLB coaching career as an Astros assistant.

The Mets plan to hire at least one additional hitting coach to work under Albert, according to a source. The move follows the organization’s decision to fire hitting coaches Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes, each of whom had a year remaining on their respective contracts.

This season the Mets finished sixth in MLB with a .753 OPS, but the team struggled to score runs for much of the first half, as production with runners in scoring position lagged.

Albert joined the Mets before the 2023 season to oversee the minor league hitting program.

“They have a really good hitting program in the minor leagues,” said a person familiar with the Mets’ infrastructure. “[The major league staff] was very aligned with those guys. [Albert] is an incredibly smart, talented guy. Jeff has the capability and he’s done it before.”

After the team’s second half meltdown that culminated with a loss in Miami on the final day of the regular season to keep the Mets one victory short of the playoffs, six coaches departed, but manager Carlos Mendoza was retained.

Catching instructor Glenn Sherlock retired and bench coach John Gibbons stepped aside.

Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner had a 2026 club option that will not be picked up and third base coach Mike Sarbaugh has an expiring contract that won’t be renewed, in addition to the Barnes and Chavez firings.