Jeremy Hefner’s masterpiece as Mets pitching coach all began with a fateful phone call

Kodai Senga has the best numbers of anyone on the Mets this season, but it’s the pitcher with the 4.65 career ERA who might be having the better season.

Because it’s pitching coach Jeremy Hefner who has guided the Mets to an MLB-best 2.89 ERA despite dealing with injuries to key pitchers in the rotation and the bullpen.

And it’s a career that Hefner wasn’t even looking at when he called it quits as a player nearly a decade ago.

After Hefner retired as a player in Jan. 2017 following a pair of Tommy John surgeries, the right-hander, whose two years in the majors came with the Mets in 2012 and 2013, faced the dilemma that confronts plenty of players: What’s next?