Impact of NY Mets pitching coach is already showing 3 games into spring training

Spring training is supposed to unfold slowly, the kind of month where pitchers build up innings and gradually make all of their adjustments as they head into late March. In many places, that pace is perfectly acceptable. It does not quite work with the New York Mets crowd, where patience lasts about as long as a slice of pizza from Rose's Pizzeria in Penn Station. Around here, improvement is expected yesterday, not sometime in late May.

Yet three games into camp, there are already signs that something is moving faster than usual. The changes have not come with dramatic speeches or viral bullpen clips, but they have shown up under the Florida sun in ways that are hard to ignore. If this is what early influence looks like, the story is less about one afternoon and more about how quickly a new voice can travel through a clubhouse.

The impact of Justin Williard is already showing in Tobias Myers

Williard was hired in mid-November after serving as Boston’s director of pitching since 2023, and the Mets did not bring him in to simply supervise bullpen sessions. They brought him in to adjust, refine, and, when necessary, reinvent. Three games into camp, that process already appears underway. Myers became the first visible example of what that collaboration can look like on the mound.

Acquired as part of the Freddy Peralta trade, Myers is still introducing himself to Mets fans. In his first appearance of the spring, he entered in the fifth inning and logged 2.1 innings with three strikeouts while allowing three hits. Solid work for late February. The more interesting detail came afterward, when Myers revealed that Williard helped him develop a new slider during a few recent bullpen sessions.

They are calling it a “little baby spike,” a pitch Myers admitted almost resembles a curveball. It paid off for him today, as it helped him record one of his three strikeouts. That is not a sweeping mechanical overhaul or a dramatic increase in velocity. It is a targeted tweak, drawn up in side sessions and trusted enough to use in-game.

Last season with Milwaukee, Myers operated primarily as a four-pitch arm, leaning on a four-seam fastball, cutter, slider, and splitter. His changeup and splitter limited hitters to a .167 and .108 BAA, while the four-seam and cutter were tagged at .313 and .448. Adding another look, especially one that tunnels differently, is a smart adjustment heading into 2026, and it suggests the Mets are not waiting to leave their fingerprints on this staff.

If this is how the relationship between Justin Williard and his pitchers is starting, Mets fans might want to keep the radar gun in their pocket and pay attention to the bullpen sessions instead. One new pitch in late February will not define a season, but it does show something important. The Mets are not easing into change; they are already throwing it.