Phil Regan

Mets ink former Yankees RHP prospect Yefry Ramirez

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The New York Mets have reportedly signed former New York Yankees pitching prospect Yefry Ramirez to a minor league deal.

The 26 year-old righthander is nothing to get excited about and his prospects of getting back to the majors is something the Mets will leave in the very capable hands of their roving minor league pitching coordinator Phil Regan.

Per Metsmerized Online:

 Ramirez, 26, made 13 major league appearances (one start) in 2019 split between the Baltimore Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates. In that span, the right-hander had a 7.40 ERA, 5.60 FIP, and 1.890 WHIP with 10.0 K/9 as compared to 5.9 BB/9. In 19 minor league appearances (nine starts), Ramirez registered a 4.14 ERA, 1.444 WHIP, 11.7 K/9, and 5.4 BB/9.

You can never have enough arms and the signing likely comes via a suggestion from Regan, who served as the Mets’ pitching coach last season after Dave Eiland was fired in June. Ramirez could be one of those later bloomers that rises up through the organization. Right now, the Mets are leaving no stone unturned when it comes to finding possible solutions in their bullpen.

New York Mets’ Pitching Coach: Jeremy Hefner’s the Favorite

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According to a rival GM, Former New York Mets’ pitcher Jeremy Hefner seems set to become the team’s new pitching coach.

Andy Martino of SNY is reporting that a rival GM has predicted the Mets will hire Jeremy Hefner.

Hefner spent only two seasons in the majors during his playing career. Both of which he spent with the Mets in 2012 and 2013. During the 2013 season, Hefner tore his UCL and had Tommy John surgery. Something his career couldn’t rebound from.

If you don’t remember who Jeremy Hefner is, maybe this will jog your memory:

He came back to baseball in 2018 as an advance scout with the Minnesota Twins. In 2019 he was promoted to assistant pitching coach working directly under Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson.

With Hefner on board the Twins pitching staff improved drastically. In 2018 the Twins staff was eighth in the AL in pitching FWAR, but with Hefner on board in 2019 they jumped all the way to second in the AL.

This isn’t the first time the Mets tried to bring Hefner back to New York either. Prior to the 2019 season, the Mets attempted to bring in Hefner as their bullpen coach. Hefner declined and Ricky Bones kept the job on an interim basis.

Hefner’s coaching style is heavily reliant on advanced analytics. Since retiring he has focused on learning the new wave of statistics and how to best implement them. He is now regarded as one of the most analytically savvy coaches in all of baseball.

If the Mets do hire Hefner it would be further proof of Brodie Van Wagenen‘s bold nature. With a rookie manager in Carlos Beltran coming on board many in the media have speculated that the pitching coach might be the most important hire the team makes.

That’s due to the simple fact that Beltran has no experience coaching pitchers. So, whoever the pitching coach is will likely have the power to coach the pitchers however they like.

This has led many to believe that the Mets would target an experienced pitching coach with proven success, like Phil Regan. Regan was the Mets pitching coach for the majority of the 2019 season and helped turn around the Mets pitching staff.

Yet, it seems he won’t be returning in that capacity. Instead, the Mets are focusing on younger inexperienced candidates. Hefner is just 33-years old and has only one year of coaching experience. He has never been a pitching coach at any level.

Much like Carlos Beltran, Jeremy Hefner would be a gamble on an up-and-coming coaching candidate with a lot of buzz around him.

New York Mets: Finally Over The Hump

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With their doubleheader sweep of the Miami Marlins on Monday night, the New York Mets went to one game over .500 for the first time since May 2nd. The Mets have pulled off one of the most remarkable turnarounds in baseball history, but they are not done yet. On July 12, they were 11 games under .500 and seemed dead in the water. Since then they went 17-5 to turn their season around and get themselves back in the wild card race.

How Did This Happen?

The Mets have played some poor competition, but not too long ago they were the second worst team in the NL. They have taken care of business against the teams they need to beat. Most of the credit goes to towards the Mets starting pitching and bullpen. The ERA of their starting pitchers have been the lowest in baseball and their bullpen has been spearheaded by the Seth Lugo.

During this hot streak Lugo has only allowed one base runner in 12.2 innings out of the Mets bullpen. He is also starting to take save chances away from Edwin Diaz. The Mets need to get Diaz right and he has shown glimpses of finding himself again. In his last few innings he surrounded home runs or walks between three strikeouts where he looks like the Diaz of old. After pitching coach Phil Regan came out to speak to Diaz during game 1 on Monday, it seemed to calm him down.

The Calming Influence of Regan

There is a lasting impact from the 82-year old pitching coach. He brings a calming influence and has an answer for any situation. Regan was not some random guy the Mets picked to replace Dave Eiland. Regan had been in the organization for many years and worked with most of the Mets pitchers when they were in the minors. Most of the pitchers the Mets have are loaded with talent and the small adjustments Regan has made is taking them over the top.

Watching Regan interact with all of his pitchers is coaching gold. When he came out to speak to Diaz Monday, he came out with a smile on his face and made Diaz grin as well. He relaxed Diaz which led to him closing out the first game of the doubleheader. One of his other great moments is after, what could have been, Zack Wheeler’s last start as a Met. After Mickey Callaway removed him from the game you can see Regan greet him first with a pat on his back following a subtle fist pump as Wheeler walks by.

The Comeback Kids

Monday night’s comeback win was pulled straight out of the 2000 and 2015 Mets playbook. It took three home runs from J.D. Davis, Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso to get the Mets the lead. Alonso’s capped off the inning and drew flashbacks to the Mike Piazza home run down the left field line against the Atlanta Braves in 2000.

At 57-56 the Mets now set their sights towards the top two wild card spots. They have two more games against the Marlins, then three against the Nationals. The Mets are 2.5 games back and will have Stroman, Syndergaard and deGrom lined up against the Nats. If the Mets take either of the next two against the Marlins, you can guarantee a playoff atmosphere over the weekend.