<p>ST. LOUIS — The scuffling New York Mets fired hitting coach Chili Davis and assistant hitting coach Tom Slater on Monday night.</p>
<p>The moves were made following a 6-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals that dropped the Mets to 11-12. </p>
<p>New York has struggled badly with runners in scoring position early this season, a trouble spot last year as well when the popular Davis worked remotely because of coronavirus concerns. Several accomplished hitters are off to slow starts, including $341 million newcomer Francisco Lindor, who is hitless in his last 25 plate appearances and batting .163 overall.</p>
<p>The team has lacked power at the plate as well, a big surprise for a lineup that includes Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto and Dominic Smith. </p>
<p>Minor league hitting coordinator Hugh Quattlebaum and farm director Kevin Howard will join the major league coaching staff to replace Davis and Slater, respectively.</p>
<p>“It was a difficult decision to make,” acting general manager Zack Scott said. "It’s not about 23 games of results.</p>
<p>“We just felt like the players needed a different level of support and maybe some different skills brought into the mix.”</p>
<p>Scott said it was a baseball operations decision and team president Sandy Alderson was in agreement.</p>
<p>“This isn’t about recent results. This is about the process behind the scenes,” Scott said. “It’s too early to be overreacting to small samples of results.”</p>
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