Mets Hire Jeremy Hefner As Pitching Coach

Mets Pitching Coach Jeremy Hefner (Credits to MetsMerizedOnline.com)

The New York Mets announced today that they have hired Jeremy Hefner as their new pitching coach after Phil Regan was the interim pitching coach to finish out last season after Dave Eiland was fired. Hefner spent this past 2019 season as the assistant pitching coach for the Minnesota Twins. Prior to that, he was an advanced scout for the Twins during the two previous seasons. Hefner pitched for the Mets during the 2012 and 2013 seasons.

Mets Hire Hensley Meulens As Bench Coach

Mets bench coach Hensley Meulins (Credits to MetsMerizedOnline.com)

The New York Mets announced today they have hired Hensley Meulins as their next bench coach. Meulins previously  was the San Francisco Giants bench coach the last two years under manager Bruce Bochy and had multiple jobs including outfield defense instruction, position and preparation.  Prior to becoming bench coach, he worked as the Giants hitting coach. Meulins also managed the Neatherlands in the 2013 and 2017 World Baseball Classic and won three World Series rings in 2010, 2012, and 2014 as a coach for the Giants.

Jacob deGrom Wins Second Consecutive Cy Young Award

New York Mets RHP Jacob deGrom (Credits to MetsMerziedOnline.com)

New York Mets RHP Jacob deGrom was named the National League Cy Young Award winner for the second consecutive year and received 29 out of 30 first place votes to win in a landslide. deGrom had an 11-8 record with a 2.43 ERA and lead the league with 255 strikeouts and 44 walks in 204 innings and was tied for first in WHIP (Walks and hits in innings pitched) with 0.97. He is one of two Met pitchers along with Tom Seaver to win multiple Cy Young Young Awards and one of 11 pitchers to win it in back-to-back years. deGrom also joined Seaver as the only other player in Major League history to win Rookie of the Year and multiple Cy Young awards.

Pete Alonso Wins National League Rookie of the Year

Mets First Baseman Pete Alonso (Credits to MetsMerizedOnline.com)

New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso was named National League Rookie of the Year tonight by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Alonso won the first place vote on 29 out of 30 ballots. He is the sixth Met in franchise history to win Rookie of the Year along with RHP Tom Seaver in 1967, LHP Jon Matlack in 1972, RF Darryl Strawberry in 1983, RHP Dwight Gooden in 1984 and RHP Jacob deGrom in 2014 as previous winners. His career got off to a roaring start after he won Rookie of the Month in April and again in June and September.
He hit his 26th homer in June which broke the National League record set by Cody Bellinger for most homers by a rookie before the All-Star break. Also in June, Alonso was selected to the National League All-Star Team as a reserve and won the Home Run Derby beating out Vladimir Guerrero Jr and donated a portion of his winnings to charities. On August 15th, he hit his 42th homer of the year which set the record for most homers by a Met in a single season.
On September 20th, he hit his 50th homer and became the first Met to hit 50 homers in a season. Five days later, he hit his 51st homer and became the fifth players in MLB history alongside Hall of Famers Mickey Mantle, Jimmie Foxx, Willie Mays and Ralph Kiner to have at least 51 homers and 118 RBI's at the age of 24 or younger in a season.
The next week on the 27th, Alonso hit his 52th homer which tied Yankees RF Aaron Judge's record for most homers in a season by a rookie. The next day, he broke Judge's record with his 53th homer.
Alonso ended up hitting .260 with 53 homers and 120 RBI's which led all rookies and became the first rookie to lead the Majors in homers.

Mets Hire Carlos Beltran as Next Manager

Mets Manager Carlos Beltran (Credits to MetsMerizedOnline.com)

The New York Mets announced today that they have hired Carlos Beltran as their next manager. Former Mets manager Terry Collins was named the bench coach for Beltran. This is Beltran's first time as a Major League manager and he was one of the finalists along with Eduardo Perez. Beltran has spent the last two seasons working with the New York Yankees as a special advisor to General Manager Brian Cashman. He was a finalist for the Yankees managerial job in 2017, but lost the job to Aaron Boone.
Collins managed the Mets from 2011-2017 as the longest termed manager in franchise history and led them to a World Series appearance in 2015 and a National League wild card appearance in 2016. He was Beltran's manager for the first half of the 2011 season before Beltran was traded at the trading deadline for Zack Wheeler.
Beltran was one of the greatest position players in Mets history during his tenure from 2005-2011. He hit .280 with 149 homers, 559 RBI's, 100 stolen bases, with four All-Star game appearances and also won two Gold Gloves in center field along with two Silver Slugger Awards.