Minor league NY Mets coach feels like a suitable candidate for vacant job

The New York Mets still have some coaches to hire. Jeff Albert will be one of the voices on the hitting side. Kai Correa will assist Carlos Mendoza as the bench coach. Another hitting coach, a third base coach, and maybe most notable of all will be who replaces Jeremy Hefner as the team’s pitching coach.

Staying in-house with Albert who has worked with the team since 2023 strongly suggests the club won’t be opposed to doing the same with their pitching coach. Desi Druschel is a strong choice to elevate to the pitching coach job. However, somewhere down the line, the Mets need to start thinking about Dan McKinney.

Every year McKinney has moved up a level. He was in St. Lucie in 2023, Brooklyn in 2024, and spent last season with Double-A Binghamton. It can’t be a coincidence how wherever he goes, the pitching seems to excel.

It may be too soon for Dan McKinney to join the major league staff, but he’s well on his way

McKinney’s Rumble Ponies had a league best 2.96 ERA in an Eastern League where the second-best club was at 3.57. They had over 100 strikeouts more than any other club. Even the 3.2 BB/9 was the top in the league.

It’s not all magic potions from McKinney. The players deserve the credit for executing. But how do we ignore his presence?

Excellent results haven’t followed McKinney everywhere he went. In 2023, the St. Lucie Mets had the worst ERA in the league at 5.62. A year later, the Cyclones set a franchise record with 14 shutouts including a combined no-hitter. We’re witnessing him blossom right there alongside notable prospects like Jonah Tong.

If commitment to the young pitching is paramount to the Mets’ plans for the future, keeping McKinney around as a voice of guidance to follow many of them up to the big leagues feels inevitable. The Rumble Ponies had four starters make 10 starts or more with ERAs under 3.00. Of the 7 who did make double-digit starts, the highest ERA belonged to R.J. Gordon at a still strong 3.69.

In the NFL, the term “system quarterback” gets tossed around to explain how it’s less about the individual and more following a set of directions to get the job done. It’s beginning to feel like the Mets have a system in place from the minor leagues upward. The Mets can certainly benefit from keeping him in the minors to mold the young pitchers further. Eventually, he’s someone deserving of a gig in the majors. His next challenge could be helping top pitching prospects avoid the wall they all seem to smash into when they get to Syracuse.