Assistant pitching coach Ricky Meinhold leaves Mets' organization

Ricky Meinhold, the Mets’ assistant pitching coach and minor-league pitching coordinator, has departed the organization in pursuit of other opportunities, reports Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News. Thosar writes that other staffers with the Mets might follow Meinhold in looking elsewhere in the coming weeks, with the club preparing for significant change in the front office for the second straight year.

Meinhold was promoted to assistant pitching coach in January, working under pitching coach Jeremy Hefner. He also retained the minor-league coordinator role he’d held for a little more than a year previously. Meinhold has a background in integrating data into pitching development, and Thosar notes he’d recently been under consideration for a high-ranking player development position with another club.

Hefner was hired as Mets pitching coach over the 2019-20 offseason, an addition that predated the current front office structure and the hiring of manager Luis Rojas. His contract is set to expire at the end of the season, reports Andy Martino of SNY, but the former big-league hurler remains highly regarded in the organization.

The Mets also recently engaged in some discussions with Driveline Baseball founder and former Reds director of pitching Kyle Boddy, reports Michael Mayer of Metsmerized. However, Martino adds that those discussions aren’t expected to result in Boddy landing a position with New York.