Mets to hire Hensley Meulens as bench coach

The New York Mets have filled another spot on Carlos Beltran’s coaching staff. According to Jon Heyman, the team will hire Hensley Meulens to serve as the rookie skipper’s bench coach. Jennifer Mercedes of La Vida Baseball first mentioned that the Mets were leaning towards Meulens on Saturday.

The 52-year-old Meulens has been with the San Francisco Giants on Bruce Bochy’s staff since 2010. He took over for Carney Lansford as the team’s hitting coach and was part of three World Series championship teams. He has spent the last two seasons as bench coach in San Francisco. Prior to that, he spent time coaching in the Baltimore Orioles organization (2003-2004) before serving as a Triple-A hitting coach in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization (2005-2008).

With Meulens on board, the Mets will continue their search to find a pitching coach. While it has not been confirmed that the team won’t retain Phil Regan, they continue to interview candidates to fill that role in 2020. Most recently, the club spoke with Gil Patterson for the position. Steve Karsay, Chris Fetter, and former Met hurler Jeremy Hefner have also been considered for the position.