The struggling New York Mets fired pitching coach Dave Eiland and bullpen coach Chuck Hernandez, reports Joel Sherman. According to Mike Puma, GM Brodie Van Wagenen will address the situation later on Thursday.
Pitching was expected to be a strength for the Mets this season, but going into Thursday's slate they rank a middling seventh in the NL with a rotation ERA of 4.27 -- that's despite having Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard at the front-end. As for the bullpen, it ranks 14th in the NL with a relief ERA of 5.46. Only the Nationals' relief corps has fared worse.
Eiland, 52, has been on the job since prior to the 2018 season and before that was the long-time pitching coach for the Royals. Mets manager Mickey Callaway tabbed Eiland as his pitching not long after he was hired. Hernandez, 58, is a former Braves pitching coach who joined the Mets this past December.
Phil Regan will take over as Mets pitching coach, and Ricky Bones will be the new bullpen coach, Puma reports. Some background:
Regan is 82 years old and has been affiliated with the Mets organization for over a decade. Bones was not asked back as bullpen coach after last season, but he returns now. https://t.co/8snPDFwF76
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) June 20, 2019
The Mets right now are four games under .500, in fourth place in the NL East, and 8.5 games behind the first-place Braves. The SportsLine Projection Model (@SportsLine on Twitter) right now gives the Mets just a 6.4 percent chance of making the postseason. Van Wagenen this past offseason was among the most active of GMs and made a flurry of moves designed to push the Mets into contention. Thus far, it hasn't worked out, and heads are starting to roll. The firings of Eiland and Hernandez likely mean that Callaway's seat just got even hotter.
