When the Atlanta Braves let go of longtime pitching coach Rick Kranitz this past offseason, it came as a surprise to the fanbase. After seven successful seasons, Kranitz seemed like a coach the Braves would retain, even after Brian Snitker retired.
However, when the Braves NL East rivals, the Mets, decided to let go of their pitching coach, Jeremy Hefner, the Braves felt they had couldn't miss the opportunity to bring the young pitching coach into the organization. According to Alex Anthopoulos, "If Hefner doesn’t become available, [Kranitz] is back."
Three weeks into the 2026 season, the gamble has paid off well for the Braves, leaving the freefalling Mets regretting their decision to move on from Hefner in more ways than one.
Braves making Mets look foolish for letting go of Jeremy Hefner and it is delightful
Coming out of spring training, the Braves pitching staff was a major concern. After not adding a starting pitcher to the mix via free agency or trade during the offseason, the Braves suffered several injuries to key rotation members like Spencer Strider and Spencer Schwellenbach.
However, so far, the Braves have not missed a beat. After Saturday's victory against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Braves lowered their ERA to 2.70, the best in MLB by 0.43 runs. Their starting staff has the best ERA in baseball at 2.60, while their relievers have the second-best ERA at 2.85, just behind the Cincinnati Reds, who's pen has a 2.31 ERA.
Bryce Elder, Reynaldo López, Martín Pérez, and Grant Holmes were all question marks entering the season, whether because of their injury history, or their recent performance, and all have ERAs under 3.32.
After finishing 22nd in team ERA last year, the Braves are certainly enthusiastic about the start to their year from a pitching standpoint, especially considering the team is not 100%.
Meanwhile, in New York, things have not been promising. For the season, the Mets rank 20th in team ERA. However, since the start of their losing streak, the pitching staff had an NL-worst 6.43 ERA entering their game Saturday against the Cubs, which they promptly lost 4-2.
Aside from rookie Nolan McLean, who has been just as good as advertised, and Clay Holmes, the rest of the staff looks to be in shambles. Kodai Senga raised his ERA to 8.83 after his start versus Chicago. Free agent acquisition Luke Weaver has an ERA over 8.00 as well. David Peterson, one of the longer tenured Mets at this point, has been been incredibly disappointing out of the gate, with a 6.41 ERA.
Even Freddy Peralta, the club's big trade acquisition this past offseason, has been mediocre, with a 3.86 ERA in his four starts.
While the offense has been a bigger reason for the free fall over the last week-and-a-half, scoring 18 runs across 10 games, the pitching staff has allowed 11+ runs twice during the losing streak, and in both of those games, the offense did show some signs of life.
The season is still young, but this is starting to look like just another long list of missteps for the Mets, and an even more unfortunate one, as it has directly benefited their biggest rival.
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