Andy Green outlines Zac Thornton's 'path to improvement' for coming Mets offseason and beyond

· Yahoo Sports

Mets interim manager Andy Green wants rookie pitcher Zac Thornton to stay hungry.

The 24-year-old southpaw is putting the finishing touches on an extremely solid first season in the bigs, with a 3.40 ERA and 1.15 WHIP across 79.1 IP.

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On Friday, Thornton hurled six full innings and allowed just two earned runs on five hits as the Mets cruised to a 6-3 win over the rival Philadelphia Phillies. 

"It was typical for him," Green lauded. "He was on the attack the whole day, and when he had traffic [on the basepaths], he always seemed to execute the big pitch when he needed to.

"Against a very good offense, he did a nice job."

Green was asked during his postgame news conference whether he believes he's ready to declare Thornton is "for real."

"I do think that, but I also think that if you take your foot off the gas at this level, it'll hurt you," Green replied.

"Zac pitches with an edge and an intent to prove himself every time out. I think that's just who he is. He's resilient, he knows how to bounce back when a team gets to him, and the stuff plays."

 

However, Green couldn't offer praise without also providing some offseason motivation for the young lefty.

"There's another level to go," Green continued. "He's 185 pounds soaking wet right now. If he uses his offseason effectively, he can get to 195 pounds, increase his velocity from 91 to 93 miles per hour to 94 and above, and add more refinement on the changeup and the curveball."

In Green's eyes, accomplishing these goals will require Thornton to have both a healthy growth mindset and the day-by-day motor to constantly put in the work required to get better.

"The path to improvement is staying on the gas pedal," the interim manager declared. "Train like you've never won anything, and compete like you've never lost. That's where Zac's mentality has to be going into the offseason. We don't hand you a job next season because you had 14 good starts, you have to continue to prove yourself."

Thornton himself clearly has the "myself versus everybody" mentality Green alluded to.

"It's great just to prove myself right, prove a lot of others wrong," Thornton stated postgame. "Hopefully, I'm in this league for a long time and I'll always kind of have that mentality pitching, no matter how long I'm going to be here for."

"It's tiring, but the reward is special. Being on a team that wins baseball games, having a lengthy and successful career, all of that is in front of Zac if he wants to go get it," Green concluded.

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