Mets hire Jim Riggleman as bench coach

The New York Mets have hired Jim Riggleman as their bench coach. Riggleman has been with the Cincinnati Reds organization since 2012 and most recently served as their interim manager in 2018 after the club fired Bryan Price in April. The Mets reportedly also interviewed Fredi Gonzalez, Bryan Price, and Tony DeFrancesco for the job before making their decision.

Riggleman has a wealth of managerial experience in the National League, which should be a big help to second-year manager Mickey Callaway, who spent his entire coaching career in the American League before joining the Mets and struggled in his first year at the helm, especially with double-switches and the utilization of pinch hitters.

Riggleman has held five separate managerial jobs in his career—including with the San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, Washington Nationals, and Reds—and has a career 726-904 record. He has previously served as a bench coach for the Nationals and as a third base coach with the Reds.

The Mets recently shook up their coaching staff, which included reassigning bench coach Gary DiSarcina to third base coach and moving Glenn Sherlock over to first base. coach The Mets are still looking to find a hitting coach to replace Pat Roessler and a bullpen coach to replace Ricky Bones.