New York Mets: Dave Eiland bringing structure and a new culture to Queens

Dave Eiland is bringing structure to the young New York Mets pitching staff.

The New York Mets were stricken with a huge problem last season. The pitching staff, known as one of the most dynamic in the league, couldn’t stay out on the field working. Nearly all of them spent varying amounts of time on the disabled list. It doesn’t matter how much talent you have, if your time is all spent in the training room it means nothing.

Mickey Callaway is the new manager as we know, and he has hired Dave Eiland to be the pitching coach. He had a solid three years with the Yankees on his resume, and now he is on the other side of town trying to right the ship. To begin the process, Eiland has put them all on a structured throwing program, and he is encouraged by reports he is getting from all of them (via Mike Puma in the NY Post):

"“They are all working hard,” Eiland said Thursday. “They like the program, like the structure of it, they have something to work from. You can’t be with them during the winter, so the best you can do is send them a program and stay in contact with them and check in.”"

According to the Post, the team didn’t previously have a program, and the goal is to have the pitchers ready to pitch come spring training, but not overworked.

More from Empire Writes Back

He even believes he can resurrect the career of the once Dark Knight, Matt Harvey:

"“The arm strength was there, the stamina wasn’t where he could maintain it,” Eiland said. “But a full offseason where he could train as he normally would without any restrictions, I look for him to be fine. But this thoracic outlet syndrome is a new thing and there isn’t a lot of history or data there. But I was encouraged by what I saw, the way he threw the ball in September.”"

If Dave Eiland can bring back Matt Harvey to what he used to be, we need to invent an award for pitching coach of the year. Ever since returning from the thoracic outlet surgery, he just hasn’t been the same. The stuff hasn’t been as explosive as it was when he first came up. As a long-suffering Mets fan as many of you must be, we have been disappointed before. Hopefully the new pitching coach isn’t setting us up for another one.

Next: Five best center fielders in Mets history

As far as the program, it’s a great idea. It seems that in the past the pitchers were relying on weight lifting to stay in condition, and that led to some of the injuries. They have to understand that they have to workout correctly, and that means keeping their arms in shape. It makes you wonder how they were ever successful under Dan Warthen.

Home/New York Mets