Dave Hudgens lost his job Monday, but the fired Mets hitting coach took one positive from his ouster: He doesn’t have to hear what Keith Hernandez has to say anymore.
“That’s one thing. I’m glad I don’t have to listen to those guys anymore,” he told Newsday.
Hudgens, who joined the Mets in 2011, defended the team’s patient hitting approach, which has come under fire from Hernandez, the former Mets captain and World Series champion.
“The naysayers, the guys who disapprove of us, the guys who I listen to on TV all the time, those guys that know everything about the game, I’m just amazed at it,” Hudgens said. “What’s wrong with getting a good pitch to hit? Somebody, please punch a hole in that for me. I just shake my head at the old-school guys that have it all figured out. ‘Go up there and swing the bat.’ Well, what do you want to swing at? It just confounds me. It’s just hilarious, really.”
Hudgens, unwilling to go quietly, also took shots at the beaten-down fan base in an interview with MLB.com.
“I think the fans are really tough on the guys at home,” he said. “It’s tougher at home to play than it is on the road, there’s no doubt about it. And they’re trying really hard at home. You can see it in the statistics. The fly-ball rates went up, the swing-and-miss rates went up at home. I think we were first in the league in runs scored on the road, so I think guys were relaxed on the road. They could just go out and play the game, don’t worry about anything. Then at home, they’re trying to do so much.”