WASHINGTON — Jeremy Hefner may have found the cause of his recent struggles.
After two horrid outings to begin the second half, the Mets right-hander yesterday said he and pitching coach Dan Warthen have identified a mechanical flaw that may have led to Hefner getting hit hard in losses to the Phillies and Braves.
Hefner indicated he has been extending his left leg too much during his delivery.
“I had been staying compact, and I got out of that,” said Hefner, who is scheduled to face the Marlins tonight. “I was real spread out, so that was causing balls to leak back over the middle, so that’s why I gave up the number of hits.”
But Hefner said his latest bullpen session, after making the adjustment, was among his best this season.
“It’s all Dan [Warthen],” Hefner said. “I sat there forever and stared at the video forever and I was like, ‘I really can’t tell the difference.’ But when somebody sees you, it’s much easier.”
Hefner posted a 1.76 ERA in the six weeks heading into the All-Star break. Since then, he is 0-2 with a 18.47 ERA.
Hefner said his struggles have come at a bad time.
“We have the ability to catch Philly and Washington, and we’ve done that for the most part,” he said. “But my two games, we could have won those and been that much closer.”
* Manager Terry Collins expects to have the team essentially intact after Wednesday’s non-waiver trade deadline passes.
“I have no reason to think it’s going to change that much, so that’s why we’re going to plug forward,” Collins said. “You look at our team, and we’ve got some guys that are playing well.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next three days, but we’ve got some guys that certainly if I were a team in the hunt who had a couple of holes, I would go searching. We’ve got some guys, but from everything I’m hearing right now there’s no reason to think we’re going to change.”
* Josh Satin started at third base, giving David Wright a day off. It was only the third missed start by Wright this season. Justin Turner and Zach Lutz have each started a game at third base.
* The Mets were granted a reprieve from dress shirts and ties and wore beach-themed clothing on their flight to Miami. Several players wore tropical shirts. Matt Harvey was dressed completely in white.