Former Mets coaches Jeremy Hefner, Antoan Richardson join Braves staff

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves’ first two additions to new manager Walt Weiss’ coaching staff come from the division-rival New York Mets: pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and first-base coach Antoan Richardson.

The Braves announced the hires Wednesday and said they were still working on filling out the rest of the staff. They hired Weiss as their new manager on Monday, after he spent eight seasons as bench coach under former manager Brian Snitker.

Hefner, 39, spent the past six seasons as Mets pitching coach, and the team posted the NL’s sixth-best ERA (4.02) in that span. He’ll replace Rick Kranitz, 67, who served seven seasons as Braves pitching coach under Snitker.

Richardson, 42, was the Mets’ first-base coach for two seasons. He also had outfield coordinator and base-running instructor duties, thriving in the latter. The Mets led MLB in stolen-base success rate in 2025 by a wide margin, at 89.1 percent. Richardson will have those same duties with the Braves.

Richardson had an interest in staying with the Mets, but the sides couldn’t agree to terms. He talked with several other teams about positions, including bench coach and first-base coach, before the Braves reached an agreement with him.

Mets pitchers allowed the fourth-fewest hits in the NL and the sixth-most strikeouts during Hefner’s tenure and had six All-Star selections. However, some Mets observers thought Hefner became a scapegoat for the Mets’ pitching woes at key points in recent seasons. He was let go after the season.

Hefner is an Oklahoma native and former major-league pitcher who was a fifth-round MLB Draft pick by the San Diego Padres in 2007. He made his MLB debut in 2012 with the Mets and had a 4.65 ERA in 50 games (36 starts) over two seasons with New York.

Tom Goodwin was the Braves’ first-base coach and outfield/base-running instructor the past two seasons, and he and Kranitz were told Monday they would not be retained. Third-base coach Fredi González was also told he would not be brought back in any capacity.

— The Athletic’s Will Sammon contributed to this report.