For the second time in their history, the New York Mets threw a no-hitter. With their being five pitchers, it was the first combined no-hitter in team history.
There’s a lot of credit to go around on this one. Obviously, you start with the pitchers – Tylor Megill, Drew Smith, Joely Rodriguez, Seth Lugo, and Edwin Diaz.
Looking at that group, at some point, you need to tip your cap to the Mets scouting department.
Megill was an eighth round draft pick out of the University of Arizona. Collegiately, he was a .500 pitcher with a 4.61 ERA. Still, he showed enough for the Mets to draft him in 2018.
As noted by Mets Director of Amateur Scouting Marc Tramuta, local area scout Brian Reid played a key role in the Mets drafting Megill. Drew Toussaint did as well.
https://twitter.com/tramscout42/status/1407818481974886400?s=21
If you think Megill was a find, in 2011, Lugo was a 34th round pick out of Centenary College of Louisiana. In his one year there, Lugo was 5-7 with a 5.57 ERA.
As noted by Mike Vorkunov, then of nj.com, it was then associate scout Jimmy Nelson who urged Mets Louisiana scout, Tommy Jackson, to take a deeper look. This was truly remarkable considering this was the final season Centenary College would be a Division I school.
This no-hitter is a testament to the Mets scouting department. They identified two late round pitchers who made it to the majors. Now, those pitchers have taken a part in a combined no-hitter.
Digging deeper, from a player development standpoint, the Mets obtained Drew Smith for Lucas Duda in 2017. At that time, Smith was a reliever with just six appearances above the Single-A level.
The Mets pitching coach is Jeremy Hefner. Notably, he was drafted twice by the Mets. He was first drafted in the 46th round of the 2004 draft. Then, he was the Mets 48th round pick in the 2006 draft.
He’d eventually get drafted by the San Diego Padres. A few years later, Hefner was on waivers, and the Mets claimed him.
Hefner would make his way to the majors. After he couldn’t quite recover from Tommy John, he’d begin his coaching career. Again, he’d find his way back to the Mets.
Overall, this no-hitter is a testament to the Mets scouting department. Two of the five pitchers were late round picks, and the pitching coach was another.
The Mets saw something in these pitchers no one saw. As a result, Mets fans got to see a combined no-hitter.
