The New York Mets have fired both of their pitching coaches. Dave Eiland, who served as the pitching coach, is being replaced by Phil Regan. Chuck Hernandez, who served as the bullpen coach, is being replaced by Ricky Bones. These are potentially the first dominoes to fall as the Mets season continues to spiral downward and could ultimately end in the firing of manager Mickey Callaway.
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
Dave Eiland
Eiland, who served as the Mets pitching coach since 2018, also was the pitching coach for the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals. Eiland’s career as a pitching coach started in 2008 with the Yankees. He was the pitching coach on two World Series-winning teams — the Yankees in 2009 and the Royals in 2015. The latter was against the same Mets he was just fired from.
Eiland’s major league career as a pitcher was not a very good one. Aside from being named the International League Pitcher of the year in 1990 as part of the Yankees organization, Eiland could not carry over that success into the major leagues. In a 10-year major league career with three teams (Yankees, San Diego Padres, and the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays), he went 12-27 with a 5.74 ERA.
Eiland has two little-known accomplishments in his career. He is the only player in Major League Baseball history to both give up a home run to the first batter he ever faced (Paul Molitor) and hit a home run in his very first at-bat. He also acted as a body double for Kevin Costner in the 1999 film For Love of the Game in which Costner played a starting pitcher.
Chuck Hernandez
Hernandez was a career minor league pitcher for five years with the Yankees and Chicago White Sox until a broken arm ended his career. His career as a pitching coach started in 1993 with the then-California Angels and includes stops with the Devil Rays, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Indians, Miami Marlins and the Atlanta Braves.
Phil Regan
Regan, at 82 years old, is now the Mets pitching coach. His career as a player spanned 12 seasons with the Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and the White Sox. Regan complied a record of 96-81 with a 3.84 ERA. He served one season as a manager with the Baltimore Orioles in 1995. As a pitching coach, he was previously with the Seattle Mariners from 1984-1986, Indians in 1994 and 1999, and Cubs in 1997 and 1998. Regan was the pitching coach for the Mets A-team St Lucie Mets from 2009-2015 before retiring.
Ricky Bones
Bones is the new bullpen coach for the Mets. Bones was a major league pitcher for 11 seasons and compiled a career record of 63-82 with a 4.85 ERA. During his 11-year career, Bones has pitched for the Padres in 1991, Milwaukee Brewers from 1992-1996, Yankees in 1996, Cincinnati Reds in 1997, the Royals in 1997-1998, the Orioles in 1999 and the then Florida Marlins in 2000-2001. Bones previously was the bullpen coach for the Mets from 2012-2018 before being replaced by Hernandez.
Mets Outlook
The Mets are a team built around pitching, but the starting pitching has an ERA of 4.27 and the bullpen has an awful ERA of 5.46. Only two pitchers have a better ERA from the previous season — Jason Vargas and Seth Lugo. Regan retired as a pitching coach after the 2015 season and Bones was not asked to come back after serving as the bullpen coach last season. What does this tell you about this organization?
The hot seat under Mets manager Mickey Callaway has once again been lit. At this rate, it does not seem likely he will last the season. Should he finish the season, it is almost a certainty he will not be back for the 2020 season. Callaway needs to win games and have this team in contention to keep his job. Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen did not hire Callaway, which is never good news for the incumbent manager.
Van Wagenen — who, before the season started, said the Mets were the team to beat — will ultimately need to make any changes necessary to keep that statement alive. In what was described as a win-now team, the Mets may find themselves selling off assets in a quick-rebuild mode that will include a new manager for the 2020 season.
The Summer of 2019 looks to be very hot for the Mets manager and his team.
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