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Mets Finalize 2026 Coaching Staff

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The Mets announced their full coaching staff for the 2026 season today. Some of last year’s staff are coming back and some of the new hires have already been reported. The new developments today include the confirmation of Justin Willard as the new pitching coach. Prior to the official announcement, Willard confirmed to Rob Bradford of the Baseball Isn’t Boring Podcast that he had been hired in that role. Also, the Mets promoted J.P. Arencibia to catching coach, Dan McKinney to assistant pitching coach and Gilbert Gomez to first base and outfield coach.

It was reported earlier this month that Willard was highly likely to be the new Mets pitching coach. It has seemingly taken a few weeks to cross the Ts and dot the Is but he has now been officially put into his new gig.

The Mets and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner parted ways after 2025, which was their sixth season together. The club’s pitchers had disappointed in 2025, with a collective 4.04 earned run average, which put them 18th out of 30th in the majors. However, the club also suffered a number of injury setbacks and it’s always tough to parse the contributions of a coach from the players on his team. Regardless, the Mets are changing things up. Hefner quickly landed a new pitching coach gig within the division. He’s heading to Atlanta for 2026.

Willard, 35, spent the 2018 to 2023 seasons working with the Twins in the minor leagues as a pitching coach and pitching coordinator. He then got hired by the Red Sox going into 2024 to serve as that club’s director of pitching. As mentioned, it’s tough to know when to give a coach credit for the performance of the players. For what it’s worth, the Red Sox finished fifth in the majors in 2025 with a collective 3.72 ERA.

As for the three promotions, they all get bumped from the minors to the majors. Arencibia, 39, is the biggest name of the bunch. He played in the majors from 2010 to 2015, suiting up for the Blue Jays, Rangers and Rays. He spent the three most recent seasons in the Mets’ system, serving as bench coach and assistant hitting coach for Triple-A Syracuse. He was primarily a catcher during his big league career and Will Sammon of The Athletic reports that he recently helped Francisco Alvarez, who was optioned to Triple-A for about a month in June and July.

Gomez, 33, has spent the past seven seasons in the system. He’s been the manager of High-A Brooklyn for the past two of those. McKinney, 31, has been in the system for three years. He was pitching coach for Single-A St. Lucie in 2023, High-A Brooklyn in 2024 and then Double-A Binghamton in 2025.

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images

Justin Willard “Emerging As The Favorite” For Mets’ Pitching Coach Job

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The Mets may be zeroing in on a replacement for Jeremy Hefner. Red Sox director of pitching Justin Willard is “emerging as the favorite” for the position, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. Joel Sherman of the New York Post seconded Sammon’s report, writing that Willard is “poised to be named the Mets pitching coach.”

Willard has been with Boston since November 2024. He had previously worked in Minnesota as a pitching coach and coordinator. Willard got his coaching start in the college ranks, first as a graduate assistant at Concord University. He then spent seven years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Radford University.

Boston brought in Willard to improve the organization’s pitching development. In a story written by Ian Browne of MLB.com ahead of his first season with the team, Willard said he has a “really simple” approach when it comes to his pitching philosophy. “Throw nasty stuff in the zone. You can have nasty stuff, but it’s not gonna be maximized if you’re not in the zone.” That plan could play well in New York. The Mets’ pitching staff ranked fourth in Stuff+ in 2025, but had the sixth-highest walk rate. The club finished 18th in ERA.

New York made a slew of coaching changes this offseason, including moving on from Hefner. He had spent the past six seasons with the team. After ranking 22nd in ERA in his first season, the Mets improved to ninth and then seventh under Hefner. They’ve been 15th or worse the past three years.

If he lands the gig, Willard will have plenty to work with in 2026. Top prospect Nolan McLean debuted in August and excelled over eight starts. He leads a young core that also includes Jonah Tong, Brandon Sproat, and Christian Scott. New York’s rotation was buoyed by veterans David Peterson, Clay Holmes, and Sean Manaea. The trio struggled over the final couple of months of the season as New York coughed up a playoff spot, but they should be reliable sources of innings next year until the youngsters can take over.

The main task for Willard, if he were to be hired, might be to get Kodai Senga back on track. The NPB import dominated in his first MLB season in 2023, posting a sub-3.00 ERA to go with a 29.1% strikeout rate. Shoulder and calf injuries cost Senga nearly all of 2024, but he looked to have returned to ace status to begin 2025. Senga allowed two earned runs or fewer in 12 of his first 13 starts to open the season. A hamstring injury cost him a month of action, and he couldn’t regain his form upon return. Senga stumbled to a 5.90 ERA over his final nine starts of the season. His walk rate ballooned to 12.7%. Miami tagged Senga for five earned runs on the final day of August, and New York demoted the struggling starter to Triple-A. Senga will likely be back with the big-league club in 2026, but he’ll need to perform better to hold on to his spot.

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