New York Mets Expected to Sign Jeremy Hefner to new Contract
The Mets are close to extending the longest tenured member of their coaching staff.
According to Mike Puma of The New York Post, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner is finalizing a new contract that would keep him in the same role for next season and possibly beyond.
The 36-year-old has spent the past three seasons as the Mets' pitching coach. In 2022, Hefner's unit ranked No. 7 in baseball with a 3.57 ERA as a staff. The starting rotation, led by Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer, was fifth in MLB with a 3.61 ERA.
As Puma went on to report, the Mets were worried about losing Hefner to another big-league team, as well as a college program, which could've allowed him a much better work/life balance while staying closer to his home in Oklahoma.
Prior to the hiring of manager Buck Showalter last year, the Mets and team president Sandy Alderson had already exercised Hefner's option for the 2022 season. During the '22 campaign, Puma says Hefner and Showalter developed a close relationship, given Hefner's ability to communicate analytical information to the pitching staff, along with his knowledge of the Mets' minor league pitchers.
Hefner will lead the charge in 2023 with helping the Mets pitching staff become acclimated with the pitch clock that MLB is implementing next season.
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