Mets pitching coach thinks Stroman could push deGrom for Cy Young

New York Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner has high hopes for right-hander Marcus Stroman and thinks he could possibly dethrone teammate Jacob deGrom as the National League Cy Young winner.

"For Stro, the sky is the limit for him. He could easily push Jake in the Cy Young Award race," Hefner said on SNY's Baseball Night in New York: Living Room Edition.

When or if the 2020 season begins, Stroman would slot into the No. 2 spot in the Mets' rotation with Noah Syndergaard recovering from his Tommy John surgery in March. Sitting ahead of him in New York's rotation is deGrom, who has won back-to-back NL Cy Young awards.

Stroman pitched well for both the Toronto Blue Jays and Mets last season, fashioning a combined 3.22 ERA and 3.72 FIP, but he's also two years removed from a shaky 2018 campaign that saw him record a career-high 5.54 ERA.

Despite this, Hefner is confident in the Medford, New York, native because of his versatility and unique approach to pitching.

"His ability to control his body - he throws a million different pitches in a million different locations and can really do some funky things from a timing standpoint to mess up the hitter. For me taking this job, I was really, really excited to get to work with him. It's someone I've admired from a distance for awhile," Hefner said.

Stroman has finished in the top 10 in the Cy Young race just once, doing so in 2017 with the Blue Jays.