After last night’s game, Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal tweeted that he thought Jeremy Hefner was probably the second best pitcher in the Mets rotation. Ummm… I agree…
I wanted to update this post with something Hefner said after last night’s sterling performance. Asked about the many wins he was denied because of a lack of run support or the handful of blown leads by the bullpen, Hefner took the high road:
“That doesn’t matter to me,” Hefner said. “If I give a quality outing, go deep into games, I’ve done my job. If we score runs, then I’ll get a win. If we don’t, then I might get a no-decision or whatever. Just as long as the team wins, I’m happy.”
Hefner was also asked if he was doing anything different in his last ten starts, to which he credited a tweak to his delivery by pitching coach Dan Warthen. “Really, that’s all that’s changed, is a little bit of a mechanical adjustment,” Hefner said. “And I think it’s just created a little deception, and it’s working for me right now.”
Hefner, 27, sees himself continuing the way he has and even improving as he always strives to perform better each time he gets the ball.
Original Post 7/2
Jeremy Hefner Has Been The Second Best Pitcher In Mets Rotation
There have been a few nice surprises to the Mets 2013 season so far, not as many as we’d prefer, but certainly a few good ones. Jeremy Hefner is one of them.
Initially, Hefner was not given not much of a chance to make the rotation, and was looked upon as a long reliever in the back of the bullpen at best. But the Moore, OK. native showed no quit this past Spring and forced himself into the equation. Today, you couldn’t imagine the Mets rotation without him.
Even though I picked Hefner as my sleeper for this season, even I have been surprised at just how good this young righthander has been. Some pitchers make their bones with their stuff and arsenals, others do it with smarts, command and determination. Put Hefner in that latter group.
Hefner is coming off a solid start in which he held the Rockies to one earned run on five hits and a walk. He has allowed a total of six earned runs in 30 innings over his past five starts to give him a 1.80 ERA during that span.
Overall, Hefner has a 3.72 ERA this season with a 1.29 WHP in 15 starts. Only Matt Harvey is better.
“I knew that I could pitch this way,” Hefner said after his start in Colorado. “My performance is finally matching up to the expectation. This doesn’t surprise me. I know I’m capable of doing this. So it’s not a shock to me.”
Right now, this 27-year old righty is the second best pitcher in the rotation and he’s under team control for five more years.
