The Mets got one step closer to filling out Carlos Beltran‘s coaching staff on Tuesday when the team decided to hire Jeremy Hefner as their pitching coach.

Hefner, 33, could prove to be a phenomenal hire for the Mets if his time with the Minnesota Twins is any suggestion of what he’ll be like as a pitching coach.

As detailed in a great story by Dan Hayes of the Athletic, Hefner became one of the most vital members of the Twins organization in short order after starting with the team as an advanced scout in 2017.

The former Mets’ starter showed the ability to observe the game while also incorporating analytics in a way that was digestible to players and fellow coaches.

“It’s still more of a baseball exercise than it is a data exercise,” said Pickler, who was a coach for the Twins at the time. “I view Jeremy’s role as this filter of information. Whether that be observation, experience or data, he acts as a filter, sharpens the point and passes along deductions of conclusions and actionable info.”

One thing that Carlos Beltran talked about when he was hired was that he wants to make analytics more user-friendly to the players, calling analytical data “information.”

There are still many people throughout the game that are not comfortable embracing analytics. By changing the name and how it is applied, the hope is that people will be more willing to incorporate it.

Having someone like Hefner, whose specialty appears to be digesting and explaining these numbers in a way that doesn’t make people in the room uneasy, could be extremely vital to helping people still resistant to their use more amenable to trends throughout the game.

One thing that also has been an issue with many in the analytics age is that some see this “information” as black and white and aren’t willing to bend and work towards a middle ground that is amenable for the coaches, players, and the front office.

Hefner doesn’t see this as a problem, though, as he worked alongside Kyle Gibson, who signed with the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, and many other Twins pitchers comfortably.

“It’s more like, here’s what I see and I take it to the next guy and he takes it to the next guy, and then we kind of get an idea of what maybe Gibson should be or could be and then how do we go about doing that,” Hefner said. “Then it eventually gets to Kyle and it’s up to him, which is a credit to him for listening and doing it. What he did was incredible.”

Luis Rojas was brought in as the Mets’ quality control coach in 2019 to start the transition into using this data more efficiently.

With Beltran and Hefner added to the mix, the hope will be that they can continue to open the pathways of communication on analytical information.

If you’re interested in learning more about Jeremy Hefner’s time with the Twins, check out this piece written by Dan Hayes.