Mets Hire Dave Eiland As Pitching Coach, Promote Pat Roessler To Hitting Coach
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Mets' coaching staff under new manager Mickey Callaway will include some news faces as well as some familiar ones.
The team will name Dave Eiland as pitching coach and promote Pat Roessler from assistant hitting coach to hitting coach, WFAN baseball insider Jon Heyman confirmed.
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Meanwhile, the Mets are expected to retain bullpen coach Ricky Bones and third-base coach Glenn Sherlock, Newsday reported.
Callaway is still looking for a bench coach, first-base coach and a new assistant hitting coach. Dick Scott, the bench coach under Terry Collins, is not expected to return, according to Newsday. Tom Goodwin, the former first-base coach, has been hired as the Red Sox's first-base coach and outfield instructor.
Eiland, 51, spent the past seven years as the Royals' pitching coach before being let go after this season. In Kansas City, his staffs ranked in the top four in the American League in ERA from 2013-15, including first in 2013. The Royals captured two American League pennants with Eiland, winning the World Series in 2015 -- coincidentally against the Mets.
Before arriving in Kansas City, he spent three years as the Yankees' pitching coach, where he won another World Series in 2009.
Eiland pitched in the majors from 1988-2000 for the Yankees, Padres and Devils Rays. He was teammates with Callaway in Tampa Bay.
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Eiland replaces Dan Warthen, who was not retained by the Mets following a disappointing season that saw pitchers Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Zack Wheeler and Jeurys Familia all miss significant time with injuries.
Roessler, who joined the Mets' staff before the 2015 season, replaces Kevin Long as hitting coach. Long, who interviewed for the Mets' managerial job, is reportedly a candidate for the hitting coach openings with the Yankees and Nationals.
With Long and Roessler, 57, coaching the hitters, the Mets finished in the bottom half of the National League in batting average each of the last three years but were second in home runs in 2016 and 2017.