Mets to retain Hefner as pitching coach

NEW YORK -- The Mets’ coaching staff will look quite different in 2022, with one notable exception.

The team announced Tuesday that pitching coach Jeremy Hefner will return to the same role next season. The Mets had previously announced that Hefner would remain with the organization, without committing that he would stay as pitching coach.

Tuesday, the situation changed, and Hefner is set to return regardless of whom the Mets hire as manager and president of baseball operations -- the two most prominent positions they are seeking to fill this offseason. New York had until the end of October to exercise its 2022 contract option on Hefner and risked losing him if it did not do so.

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Hefner, 35, guided Mets pitchers to a 3.90 ERA this season, good for ninth in the Majors despite an elbow injury that knocked out two-time National League Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom for the second half. Hefner oversaw Marcus Stroman’s excellent season and Aaron Loup’s historic one, as well as successful campaigns for several others. Known as an analytically minded coach, Hefner is likely to fit in with the types of likeminded managers and executives New York is considering.

A Mets pitcher from 2012-14, Hefner spent three seasons as a coach and scout in Minnesota before joining New York's coaching staff prior to the 2020 season.

When Hefner returns to the dugout in 2022, he won’t find many familiar faces. In addition to a new manager, the Mets intend to change every other member of their coaching staff. All their coaches have been free to seek employment elsewhere, other than hitting coach Hugh Quattlebaum and his assistant, Kevin Howard, who have been reassigned to other roles in the organization.