MILWAUKEE — Beginning Friday the Mets are facing the prospect of finishing the marathon season with a sprint of five games in four days, exhausting a rotation that might not have a starter available on regular rest for Game 1 of a wild-card series and expecting a bullpen that has stabilized to perform in the most important innings of the season.
It is a lot to ask from the group, but perhaps it is being asked at the right time.
The Mets pitching staff, according to FanGraphs, has been the most valuable in the majors in September.
Every starting pitcher has taken leaps from the beginning of the season.
The bullpen has evolved but finally settled into a strength.
The Mets have discovered an ace in Sean Manaea, who will start Friday — the only starter in the series against the Brewers the team has announced, with a possible doubleheader in Atlanta looming Monday.
The Mets have discovered capable pieces around Manaea.
Edwin Diaz has been strong, but so have the relievers found on the margins, either from other clubs or minor league call-ups.
All of which reflects well on Jeremy Hefner.
“I don’t think he gets all the credit he deserves,” Reed Garrett said of the Mets pitching coach. “I don’t think we could do what we do on the field without him.”
Garrett is one of those finds, a fourth-year major leaguer who entered this season with a career 7.11 ERA and who was claimed from the Orioles last year.
The righty heard from Hefner when he joined the organization, first by text and phone call and then in person, and a strong relationship began.
On the mound, Garrett minimized his four-seamer and added a sinker.
In the offseason, Garrett worked on landing his splitter for strikes.
He kept up with Hefner through the winter.
“I trust him more than any coach I’ve ever trusted,” said Garrett, who has been a revelation with a 3.18 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 56 ²/₃ innings. “He is a genuine human being who cares about you as a person, not just a player. … He’s just a good individual who cares about us and wants us to be the best we can be.”
Several pitchers said Hefner offers more suggestions than demands and listens more than he talks.
Hefner, in his fifth year as Mets pitching coach, was open to Manaea toying with his arm slot after seeing Chris Sale excel while throwing nearly sidearm.
Manaea has ridden that adjustment to a 2.63 ERA since July 30, a span in which the lefty has led the majors in innings.
For Phil Maton, the delivery adjustment he needed to make already had been learned with the Rays, with whom he struggled for two and a half months before correcting the angle of his landing foot.
Soon thereafter, he was traded to the Mets.
Maton, an eight-year, established major leaguer who has seen a lot of pitching coaches, said he has “loved” working with Hefner, who has helped make the midseason transition “smooth.”
“Some guys want to overcoach, feel like they have to do all these things,” Maton said. “I feel like he’s just been very perceptive of what I’ve been wanting to work on and has been very helpful on kind of cuing the things I’ve seen of what I want to work on.
“The stuff that he does put out there is well-thought-out, backed by data. Any time he has something for us, I know it’s really good, it’s something I should definitely consider doing, whether it’s pitch sequencing or something with my delivery.”
In 21 September games, the Mets bullpen has been the fourth most valuable, according to FanGraphs, and pitched to a 3.67 ERA.
Their rotation has been the best in that stretch and posted a sparkling 2.49 ERA.
Beyond Manaea, Luis Severino has found health; Jose Quintana has relied more on his sinker and been pinpoint; David Peterson has been at times dominant and looks healthy on the other side of hip surgery; and Tylor Megill has allowed one earned run in his past three starts, coming up from Triple-A Syracuse with a new sinker that especially helps him attack righties.
For Megill, this stretch might be the most promising he has looked since early 2022.
Megill, too, has enjoyed his time with Hefner and shouted out the organization’s game-planning.
“Overall planning going into each series and how we attack hitters has probably been one of the biggest things,” Megill said of his solid stretch.
Hefner, and the Mets pitching department, has worked.
