Just In: Justin

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It emerged over the weekend that the Mets are definitely maybe, probably, almost certainly, going to hire Boston Red Sox director of pitching Justin Willard as their new pitching coach, replacing Jeremy Hefner. The initial report of the Toronto native’s hire came from Will Sammon of The Athletic, who wrote that the Mets “are closing in” on the 35-year-old Willard, who is the “favorite” to get the gig. Anthony DiComo added that Willard is the “clear frontrunner”. Only former Met beat writer Tim Healey, who is with The Boston Globe these days covering the Red Sox, has definitively claimed Willard is getting the job. He referred to the news as a “major loss” for Boston.

Willard had an interesting role with the Boston Red Sox over the past two seasons. When the team was playing at home, he would work under pitching coach Andrew Bailey and with the big league’s pitching staff, eating tape and spitting out digestible data on what to throw. When the Sox were on the road, Willard would visit their minor league affiliates and work with the pitchers down on the farm. In Tim Healey’s write-up of Willard’s defection to the Mets, Healey noted that the Red Sox had seen “a surge” in their pitching development in the brief time Willard was there, using rookie hurler success stories Payton Tolle and Connelly Early as examples. 

When he first came from the Red Sox after six seasons with the Minnesota Twins, Willard told an interviewer that his pitching philosophy was “really simple”: “Throw nasty stuff in the zone. You can have nasty stuff, but it’s not gonna be maximized if you’re not in the zone.” That was probably music to the Mets front office’s ears, seeing as the Mets under Jeremy Hefner, in good times and bad, walked more than their fair share of batters. Willard described his job as involving watching a lot of video and breaking down biomechanical and pitch movement data. It requires a lot of energy drinks, he explained.

No, Willard never threw a pitch in professional ball, but he did stay at a Holiday Inn last night pitched for Concord University in West Virginia, where he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant. He moved on to get his MBA at Radford University in Virginia, where he was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Willard lists Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Office as two of his dozen skills on his Linkedin page.

Considering the officially announced hires of Jeff Albert (director of hitting), Troy Snitker (hitting coach), and Kai Correa (bench coach), it’s looking like the soon-to-be 46 year old Carlos Mendoza will be a grizzled old man in comparison to his staff. 

That wasn’t the only Mets personnel news. The Mets’ Double-A affiliate, the defending champion Binghamton Rumble Ponies, will have a new hitting coach next season: Rachel Folden. Folden technically was the one that broke the news by changing her Instagram profile on Saturday to reflect her new employer. 

Folden was a Triple-A Iowa Cubs’ hitting coach - she worked for the Cubs organization since 2019. Why she’s going down a minor league level is unknown. I guess that reflects well on the reputation of the Mets and their highly ranked minor league system (or poorly on the Cubs’.) Folden was a four-time All-American at Marshall University and was a catcher for five years in the National Pro Fastpatch (NPF) softball league. 

Folden has received high praise from some of her students. Cubs rookie Owen Caissie said back in spring training that “she knows her stuff” and “there’s no nonsense with her. She just calls it the way it is, and I love that about her.” He also claimed Folden “throws gas” during batting practice. Pete Crow-Armstrong commented in the same article that she’d do well as a coach in the big leagues. 

Elizabeth Benn, who was the highest ranking woman to ever work for Mets baseball operations until she left at the end of the 2024 season, called the Mets’ poaching of Folden an “incredible hire”. 

Gretchen Aucoin became the first female on-field coach in Met organization history back in 2022 as a player development coach.

But wait, there’s even more! Former MLB starter Jimmy Nelson announced on his Instagram that he’s joining the Mets as a Florida Roving Pitching Coach. Nelson pitched for the Brewers from 2013-2017 and again in 2019 before a brief stint with the Dodgers in 2021. He went 34-48 with a 4.12 ERA for his career. 

David Peterson and Luis Torrens were the two Mets nominated for Gold Glove awards, but it was announced last night that neither won. The last Metropolitan to win one remains to be Juan Lagares in 2014.

Katia Lindor will be performing at Carnegie Hall in January. 

Mr and Mrs Met performed the thriller dance with other Greenwich village Halloween parade attendees.

Actor Jerry O’Connell revealed that he’s a Met fan who’s still bitter about the Chase Utley/Ruben Tejada incident. 

Ernest Dove reported that Met prospects 2B/SS/RF D’Andre Smith and RHP Austin Troesser left the Scottsdale Scorpions and the Arizona Fall League, while OF John Bay joined up. 

Sparkplug CF Nick Morabito is still there, and he was profiled in the New York Post. 

The Scottsdale Scorpions improved to 16-6 in AFL play with a 4-1 victory over the Peoria Javelinas last night. The aforementioned Morabito went 2 for 4 with a home run, a run scored, two RBI and a strikeout. RHP Brett Banks got the save, tossing a scoreless ninth, allowing one walk and striking out two. 

The Dodgers won the World Series. Again.