Jeremy Hefner: Former Mets Pitcher (2012-2014) & Long Time Pitching Coach (2020 - 2025)
Hefner was drafted twice by the New York Mets in 2004 & again 2005. Each time it was way down near the 50th rounds but he did not sign neither time. In 2007 he was the fifth-round pick of the San Diego Padres & he did sign.
Thru his first three minor league seasons, Jeremy put up double figures in wins with impressive strike out totals to match.
In 2011 he made it to AAA Tucson, where he went 9-7 with a rather high 4.98 ERA. In the winter he was placed on waivers & was picked up by the Pittsburgh Pirates. A month later he was placed on waivers once again, this time getting picked up by the New York Mets.
MLB Debut: On April 23rd, he made his MLB debut pitching in relief of Miguel Batista in a 6-1 loss to the Giants at Citi Field.
Jeremy was sent back to AAA Buffalo but returned on May 19th pitching five innings of relief in Toronto. He gave up two runs taking the loss as Brandon Morrow shut out the Mets in a complete game three hitter.
First Career Win & HR in First At Bat: On May 29th, Jeremy took the mound at Citi Field, facing the Philadelphia Phillies. He collected his first career win, pitching six innings, allowing three runs, on six hits striking out four.
In the bottom of the 4th inning, with the Mets up 3-2, Hefner hit a HR off Joe Blanton in his first career at bat. It was his also first career hit, one of just two he would have in 52 at bats.
Trivia: Hefner became the 13th Mets player in franchise history to hit a HR for their first MLB hit.
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In the rest of 2012, Hefner was back & forth between the Mets & AAA Buffalo. With the AAA Bisons he was 5-2 with a 2.77 ERA on the season. With the Mets he was used both as a starter & reliever as needed.
On June 6th he made another spot start against the Nationals in Washington D.C, giving up a three run HR to Adam Laroche taking a loss to fall to 1-3.
He then made seven relief appearances before his next starting assignment finishing off two games in that stretch. On July 25th he gave three runs to the Nationals getting tagged with his fourth loss.
On August 4th, Hefner pitched six innings in San Diego allowing one run on five hits, earning his second win of the year.
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On the year Hefner was 4-7 with a 5.09 ERA, he collected 62 strike outs with 18 walks in 93.2 innings pitched in 26 appearances (13 starts).
In May Hef took losses to the White Sox & Cubs in games where he gave up four runs each time, falling to 0-5.
Subway Series Win: On May 29th, he earned his first win of the year, coming in that year's subway series. It came during the Mets series sweep against the A.L. New York team.
On June 21st he struck out six Phillies taking a 4-3 victory over Cole Hamels who fell on hard times dropping to 2-11. On July 2nd, Hefner allowed just one run over seven innings, striking out six to beat Arizona 9-1 at Citi Field. On July 7th, he won a close 2-1 game in Milwaukee, allowing just one run in seven innings.
In December, the Mets let him go to free agency, but they resigned him in January 2014.
Trivia: Hefner is originally from Moore, Oklahoma where a 2013 Tornado killed 24 people. He teamed up with Foleys Pub in Manhattan, where a 405 Burger, was named after the towns area code. Proceeds went to the relief effort.
Post Mets Career: Hefner was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals & spent the year at AAA Memphis but retired from pitching in 2017.
He replaced 82-year-old baseball legend, Phil Regan. Regan would later file an age discrimination case against the Mets.
Jeremy's staff were first in the NL in strike outs (1565) finished second best in wins (101) & third
best in ERA (3.57). The Mets had a first-place lead most of the season then lost it in late September. They made the playoffs but lost in the first round.
Quotes- Jeremy Hefner: "I'm extremely excited to continue working with this group & build on the systems & practices we've implemented. I saw a lot of development from the rotation & the bullpen & am very optimistic for even more success from the pitching staff moving forward".
In the post season, the Mets powered past the Brewers in the Wild Card series. In the NLDS they shut down the Phillies holding them down to a .186 batting average, with 11 earned runs in 35.2 innings of work.
After six years as pitching coach the Jeremy Hefner era was over. He was quickly hired by the Atlanta Braves as their pitching coach.
Family: Jeremy is married to Sarah Grace Hefner. She is a personal trainer. Together they have four children, three daughters & one son.
On August 4th, Hefner pitched six innings in San Diego allowing one run on five hits, earning his second win of the year. He made three more relief appearances then at the end of August, was seeing more time as a starter. In the final two months he made eight starts going 2-3.
In those three losses Hef allowed five runs or more each time. On September 20th, he never got out of the 1st inning, as he gave up a season high seven runs, on six hits, in a terrible 16-1 loss to the Phillies.
Combined Shut Out: On September 26th at Citi Field, the night David Wright broke the franchise' all time hit record, Jeremy pitched his best game. He shut out the Pirates for seven innings, striking out a season high seven batters, combining in a three-hit shutout with Jeurys Familia.
On October 3rd in Miami, Hef pitched into the 8th inning, his longest effort of the year while going beyond seven innings for the second straight start. He gave up two runsearning his fourth victory. Scott Hairston's two run HR & Andres Torres solo HR along with Ike Davis' 90th RBI led him to the 4-2 win.
Hefner reached the seven strike out mark, four times on the year, including in his last two starts.
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2013: Out of Spring Training, Hefner made Terry Collins pitching staff but had a rough start.
On April 5th he pitched well, allowing one run in five innings to the Miami Marlins but got the loss.
In his next three starts he served up two HRs in each game, totaling seven HRs & eleven runs in 14 innings, ballooning his ERA over seven.
On April 10th, the Phillies bashed him for five runs in three innings at Philadelphia, as he fell to 0-2. On April 18th, he gave up five runs in Colorado & then three more runs to the Nat's in aloss at Citi Field.
In May Hef took losses to the White Sox & Cubs in games where he gave up four runs each time, falling to 0-5.
Subway Series Win: On May 29th, he earned his first win of the year, coming in that year's subway series. It came during the Mets series sweep against the A.L. New York team. The Mets gave Hefner a five-run lead in the 1st inning, with RBI hits from Daniel Murphy, John Buck & Ike Davis.
From June 21 to July 7th, Hefner earned three straight victories.
In those four starts opposing batters hit just .217 against him. By now, Hefner was on a stretch where he was having one of the best months of any pitcher in the league.
After a no decision in Pittsburgh, where he gave up just two runs in seven innings, he came back to have two very rough starts at the end of July.
On July 19th at Citi Field, he had his worst start of the season as the Phillies bashed him for eight runs on ten hits in just two innings. The Mets were down 11-0 at one point but fought back to a 13-8 loss.
On July 24th he took a loss to Tim Hudson & the Braves at home, as he gave up another five runs, with a season worst three HRs served up, as Evan Gatis, Dan Uggla & Andrelton Simmons all took him deep.
Hefner had allowed HRs in five straight games up to that point.
On July 29th, he allowed five runs to the Marlins in Miami but took no decision as the Mets came up with a 6-5 win.
In August, Hefner had a tear in his ulnar collateral ligament & underwent surgery at the end of the month.
He finished the year at 4-8 with a 4.34 ERA. He struck out 99 batters & walked 37, allowing 20 HRs in 130 innings in 24 appearances (23 starts).
In December, the Mets let him go to free agency, but they resigned him in January 2014.
2014: At Spring Training, he began to toss lightly. Later that year he pitched six games between A ball St. Lucie & the Gulf Coast Mets.
But things didn't work out that season, in October he announced he needed a second Tommy John surgery. In November he was granted free agency & his Mets pitching career ended.
Coaching Career: In 2017-208 Hefner began as an advanced scout in the Minnesota Twins
organization. In 2019 he was named the Twins assistant pitching coach. His Twins staff was third in wins (101) & first in saves (50) in the AL. But they also served up 198 HRs (second in the AL) & 452 walks (third).
Mets Pitching Coach: In December of 2019 Brodie Van Wagenen named Hefner to the 2020 Mets pitching coach under new manager, Carlos Beltran. Beltran never got the job due to the Houston Astros scandal but Hefner worked under manager Luis Rojas.
Hefner was just 33 years old & not much older than some of the guys on his staff.
In 2021 his staff was fifth in the NL in ERA (3.90) sixth in saves (41) & ninth in wins (77).
In 2022 the Mets got rid of Rojas & hired a quality manager in veteran Buck Schowalter. Hefner was the only coach to remain on the staff from previous season. That year the team added Max Scherzer to a staff that already included Jacob deGrom.
best in ERA (3.57). The Mets had a first-place lead most of the season then lost it in late September. They made the playoffs but lost in the first round.
In 2023 Jacob deGrom left via free agency, the Mets signed Justin Verlander, but he & Max Scherzer were both traded at the deadline. By that time the Mets season was already a done deal. Hefner's staff only won 75 games with a 4.30 ERA.
The Mets went into 2024 with a new manager Carlos Mendoza & Jeremy Hefner still the pitching coach, along with a very questionable staff.
On June 2nd the team was 24-35 but from then on went 65-39 with one of MLB's best records earning them a wild card spot on the final day of the regular season. The new pitching acquisitions under Hefner, Sean Manaea & Luis Severino both had good seasons leading the staff with 12 & 11 victories respectively.
Hefner also helped David Peterson become one of the most reliable starters finishing up at 10-3 with the starting staffs best ERA at 2.90. Jose Quintana rounded out the fourth double figure winner at ten wins.
The bullpen led by Edwin Diaz 20 saves, he got support from Adam Ottovino, as well as Dedniel
Nunez & Jake Diekman until his injuries & later Jose Butto after being taken out of the starting role. After a pretty much terrible first half the pen got even with acquisitions of Ryne Stanek & Phil Maton.
Nunez & Jake Diekman until his injuries & later Jose Butto after being taken out of the starting role. After a pretty much terrible first half the pen got even with acquisitions of Ryne Stanek & Phil Maton.
The Mets staff was tied for fourth in victories (89), they gave up the third least HRs in the league (165), they were 7th in ERA (3.96) & runs allowed (634).
In the NLCS a tired staff ran out of gas as they were beaten by the eventual World Champion Dodgers giving up 46 runs (41 earned) in 52 innings.
In the disappointing 2025 season the Mets pitching staff was one of its biggest problems. Although Hefner did the best in what he had, the Mets staff were near the league average in most categories allowing the second fewest HRs in the league. The team lost out on a wild card spot on the final day of the season, getting shut out by the Marlins in Florida.
That October, the Mets made many changes with Hefner being one of the coaches let go. The move looked more like Jeremy was being used as a scapegoat for managements disfunction in putting together a quality staff.
Quotes- Jeremy Hefner: "The first ten years of my life, I grew up in Moore, where the tornadoes hit. It's very close to my heart & I'm trying to do everything possible to help them out.”
Family: Jeremy is married to Sarah Grace Hefner. She is a personal trainer. Together they have four children, three daughters & one son.
Faith: Jeremy grew up in a household of strong Faith going to Church every Sunday. He & his family are strong practicing Christians.