{"id":22895,"date":"2026-11-04T15:44:20","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T23:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/?p=22895"},"modified":"2026-11-04T15:44:20","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T23:44:20","slug":"a-j-ellis-to-join-mets-coaching-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportrelay.com\/mlb\/2026\/11\/04\/a-j-ellis-to-join-mets-coaching-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"A.J. Ellis to Join Mets Coaching Staff"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former catcher A.J. Ellis<\/strong><\/a> is expected to join the New York Mets<\/a> coaching staff as a major league strategy coordinator. The hiring has yet to be announced. Will Sammon<\/a> of The Athletic<\/em> was first to report on the development Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

What Does A.J. Ellis Bring<\/h4>\n

Ellis is a former catcher, who spent portions of his 11-year career with four different franchises. He was with the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> for eight years from 2008\u20132016. He last made 66 appearances for the San Diego Padres<\/a> in 2018. Across 672 appearances, he recorded 466 hits, 229 RBI and 44 home runs on a .239 average.<\/p>\n

Following his playing career, A.J. Ellis joined the Padres\u2019 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<\/strong><\/a> with creating detail oriented scouting reports on hitters. Ellis also has a relationship with Mets manager Andy Green<\/strong><\/a>, who was the Padres\u2019 skipper from 2016-2019.<\/p>\n

Filling Voids<\/h4>\n

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<\/strong><\/a> from the minor leagues to join Green\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n

However, the Mets lost interest in hiring Kevin Long<\/strong><\/a> and John Mallee<\/strong><\/a> 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<\/a> 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<\/strong><\/a> and batting practice pitcher Kevin Mahoney. The Mets did announce that all three can return to the organization in different roles.<\/p>\n

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Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>