The Philadelphia Phillies have lost a former hitting instructor to the New York Mets, as that organization hired away Kevin Mahala on Wednesday. Mahala will be the Mets’ minor-league hitting coordinator, per the New York Post, and could be a key hire for new president of baseball operations David Stearns. Mahala spent four seasons with the Phillies, starting his tenure as a player information assistant before he was promoted to an offensive development analyst. He became an upper-level hitting coordinator and development analyst for the Phillies a year ago.
He could be a key piece of the puzzle in terms of prospect development at the plate for the Mets. Eight of the team’s Top 10 prospects, per MLB.com, are hitters, including the three prospects they acquired in trades at the deadline — Luisangel Acuña, Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford. That list also includes 2023 Mets minor league player of the year Jett Williams. Acuña, Gilbert and Clifford are three players that could be ready to join the Mets as soon as 2024, with Williams potentially a call-up in late 2024 or 2025. Before he joined the Phillies, he played two seasons of minor league baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization after he was an 18th round pick out of George Washington.
In two seasons of minor league baseball with the West Virginia Black Bears and the West Virginia Power, he slashed .243/.319/.317/.636 with six home runs and 45 RBI. He was also named a 2016 New York-Penn League All-Star. With George Washington, he played three seasons of college baseball and hit .264 with seven home runs and 90 RBI. Copyright ABG-SI LLC. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED is a registered trademark of ABG-SI LLC. All Rights Reserved
