Former catcher A.J. Ellis is expected to join the New York Mets coaching staff as a major league strategy coordinator. The hiring has yet to be announced. Will Sammon of The Athletic was first to report on the development Wednesday afternoon.
What Does A.J. Ellis Bring
Ellis is a former catcher, who spent portions of his 11-year career with four different franchises. He was with the Los Angeles Dodgers for eight years from 2008–2016. He last made 66 appearances for the San Diego Padres in 2018. Across 672 appearances, he recorded 466 hits, 229 RBI and 44 home runs on a .239 average.
Following his playing career, A.J. Ellis joined the Padres’ front office as a special assistant. He is expected to help the Mets with game planning for pitching alongside pitching coach Justin Willard. He has also developed a reputation for being well versed in pitch calling from helping pitchers such as 2014 NL MVP Clayton Kershaw with creating detail oriented scouting reports on hitters. Ellis also has a relationship with Mets manager Andy Green, who was the Padres’ skipper from 2016-2019.
Filling Voids
The Mets are beginning to fill voids in their coaching staff with the expected hiring of A.J. Ellis. They have made decisions such as promoting 12-year veteran Mariano Duncan from the minor leagues to join Green’s staff.
However, the Mets lost interest in hiring Kevin Long and John Mallee as hitting coach possibilities. The team held discussions with Long, but were unable to find a match. Mallee withdrew from speaking with Mets because he intends to remain with the Chicago Cubs as an assistant hitting coach. Still, the Mets need to fill the gap left from the dismissals of director of major league hitting Jeff Albert, quality assurance coach Danny Barnes and batting practice pitcher Kevin Mahoney. The Mets did announce that all three can return to the organization in different roles.
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