Mets make Dave Eiland scapegoat of a poorly constructed bullpen

The New York Mets fired pitching coach Dave Eiland on Thursday in large part due to the failures of the poorly constructed bullpen.

Dave Eiland, we hardly knew ye. The now ex-pitching coach of the New York Mets was fired on Thursday as an apparent scapegoat for the struggling bullpen. Considering the results over the last year and a half in this role, it’s hard to argue with the decision.

Last year, there was plenty of talk about how Eiland and manager Mickey Callaway could together get the most out of the pitching staff. While there were plenty of positives, such as Jacob deGrom winning the Cy Young and an incredible finish from Zack Wheeler, not everything went so smoothly.

We never know just how many games a coach wins or loses for a ball club. In Eiland’s case, a lack of improvement from just about everyone led to his dismissal.

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According to Matt Ehalt of Yahoo Sports, Eiland’s personality may not have been a fit. His old-school approach was much different than that of previous pitching coach, Dan Warthen. Where Warthen was viewed as a “father figure” according to Ehalt’s column, Eiland was far more critical. Darn millennials!

How could he not be, though? Outside of a small number of arms, Mets pitchers have been terrible during his tenure. Then again, this is why he’s no longer with the organization.

Just as the players were shocked to hear the news, so am I. We’ve heard plenty about Callaway’s job security this year. There has been little talk about Eiland, the well-respected veteran pitching coach who turned many pitchers around during his time with the Kansas City Royals.

As I’m sure many would agree, the responsibility for the failures falls squarely on those throwing the baseballs. And many of those men don’t belong on a big league roster. It’s a trickledown effect which all began with how poorly this bullpen was constructed.

Over the past two seasons, the Mets banked on starting pitching to carry them. In 2018, they were lucky to get what they did from Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman. This year’s bullpen was a better albeit half-hearted attempt to improve the relief corps.

I personally never like to call for the firing of anyone in sports unless it’s an ethical issue. So, even with his pitchers performed so poorly, it’s tough for me to declare Eiland got what he deserved.

Stepping in to replace Eiland in the interim is 82-year-old Phil Regan. The former big league pitcher has been with the franchise for several seasons which at least gives me confidence he has some idea of what is going on.

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Along with Eiland’s firing, the Mets also let bullpen coach Chuck Hernandez go. He’ll be replaced by Ricky Bones, the man who was demoted from the same job in the offseason.