Mets To Hire Johnny Washington As Co-Hitting Coach

The Mets are hiring Johnny Washington as a co-hitting coach, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. He was working for Atlanta in 2026 as minor league hitting coordinator. Washington, 42, was drafted by the Rangers in 2003. He played in that club’s minor league system through 2006 but never played in the majors. He bounced around for a bit, playing some independent and minor league ball, with his last official game action coming in 2009. He pivoted to coaching after that. He worked in the minors for the Dodgers and Padres. The latter club promoted him to first base coach on the big league staff for the 2017 season. He was named hitting coach for the 2019 campaign. He spent the 2021 season as the hitting coach for the Hanwha Eagles in the KBO. He returned to MLB in 2022, working as assistant hitting coach for the Cubs. He then served as hitting coach for the Angels in 2024 and 2025 before joining Atlanta this year. The Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza during the 2026 season. Andy Green replaced him on an interim basis. In September, the Mets and Green announced an extension that would keep him around for the next three seasons. Washington and Green overlapped in San Diego for a time, as Green was the manager of the Padres from 2016 to 2019. Mets hitting coach Troy Snitker is sticking around for next year but the club is not bringing back director of hitting Jeff Albert. It had been reported that the Mets might add someone to the coaching staff rather than directly replacing Albert. Kevin Long and John Mallee were connected to the Mets but ultimately didn’t join the club. Washington may be the new hire to replace Albert, though it’s possible Albert’s previous duties will be split between Snitker, Washington and other members of the staff. Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images View Comments (1)