Newly hired coach Troy Snitker thrived with the Astros where the NY Mets need help

The New York Mets have seen significant turnover on their coaching staff. But one of the biggest changes was to their hitting coach department. The Mets fired both Eric Chavez and Jeremy Barnes at the end of the season. One move they made was bringing in Jeff Albert, and have now recently hired Troy Snitker as their replacement. The now-former Houston Astros hitting coach will now take over the reins for Chavez and Barnes, and they couldn't have hired a better coach to help their young players and rookies break out.

Young hitters have been by far the most successful with the Astros. Players who were 25 or younger with the Astros have hit .268/.337/.476 with a .347 wOBA, and 124 wRC+. They led all 30 MLB teams in all three triple-slash stats, wOBA, and wRC+, along with an isolated slugging percentage of .207. The Toronto Blue Jays were the second-best team when it came to 25-and-under players, but they weren't particularly close to the Astros' production, with a .263/.333/.445 line, a .334 wOBA, and 113 wRC+, a significant 11% drop in wRC+.

Many of the Astros' young players have hit the ground running as well. Yordan Alvarez established himself as one of baseball's best hitters in his 2019 rookie year, and put up a .958 OPS in 2021-2024. Kyle Tucker also had an OPS over .900 in his first extended look in the Major Leagues in 2021. Yanier Diaz had the second-best wRC+ among catchers between his first two MLB seasons in 2023 and 2024 at 120. Jeremy Pena was roughly a league-average hitter in his first three seasons before breaking out in 2025. Even though Chas McCormick has struggled the last two seasons, he still had a .786 OPS throughout his first three years with the Astros.

Troy Snitker is the best man for the job to help the NY Mets' young hitters breakout.

Young Mets hitters have not been anywhere close to young Astros hitters since Chavez and Barnes took over. They haven't even been league average. Since 2022, Mets hitters 25-and-under are batting only .232/.295/.404 with a .304 wOBA and 96 wRC+. They have the fourth-lowest OBP and batting average among all teams, while only ranking 18th in wRC+, 21st in OPS, and 23rd in wOBA. Their slugging percentage and ISO of .172 are the only stats in which they are better than average.

Only two Mets players have had at least a 100 OPS+ in at least 300 plate appearances within their first three seasons since 2022. That is Mark Vientos and Francisco Alvarez in 2024. While Alvarez looked good during the second half of 2025, he also was demoted to Triple-A at one point, and Vientos went from a .837 OPS in 2024 to just barely over .700 in 2025, clocking in at a meager .702. Brett Baty is about the only noteworthy success the Mets can hang their hat on in developing, but even he took three seasons to develop. Luisangel Acuna and Ronny Mauricio, two young infielders who were once among the Mets' top prospects, both struggled in 2025 as well. 

With the young talent the Mets have in the system, now is the time for them to bring in someone who knows how to help rookies take the step from the minor leagues to the Major Leagues. Carson Benge, Jett Williams, A.J. Ewing, Ryan Clifford, and Jacob Reimer are among the top ten Mets prospects per both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America. Nick Morbiato was solid at Double-A this year and could join the 40-man roster given his Rule 5 draft status. Based on his previous work, Troy Snitker is the guy you want at the helm to help these players break out in the Major Leagues.