Jefry Yan has been burned before, yet he is back at it with his antics less than a week after the self-inflicted embarrassment. Last Saturday in New York, the 30-year-old reliever prematurely performed his strikeout celebration, which was later ruled a ball. Against the Chicago White Sox on Friday, he had a repeat performance in front of 31,599 fans at Guaranteed Rate Field during a high-stakes ninth inning. After the Mets lost the game 6-4, the Mets’ interim manager spoke about Yan’s premature celebration.

“Jefry will learn not to jump before the play is over,” the Mets’ interim manager Andy Green said, per SNY Mets on X. “That’s something he’s still working through. I think the emotions of the moment got him there. Then settled in nicely.”

The Mets’ rookie jumps into the air and raises his legs to celebrate strikeouts. MLB has hardly seen such a celebration, and his enthusiastic antics are a recipe for disaster.

Against the Nationals, Yan jumped on what he thought was strike three facing Nasim Nunez. He even challenged the on-field call, but the review proved it was actually a ball. Yan regained his composure and recorded the strikeout later. However, he was not so lucky the second time around.

On Friday, the Mets tasked Yan with protecting a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the ninth. With Colson Montgomery at the plate, Yan thought he had recorded the third strike on a 1-2 count. After throwing a slider just below the zone, Yan jumped into celebratory mode without confirming the strike. But the home plate umpire, Ramon De Jesus, ruled the pitch a ball, much to Yan’s embarrassment. The reliever ended up walking Montgomery after throwing two balls next.

Yan did quick work of the next two batters before facing Jake Rogers. On his second pitch, Rogers directed Yan’s 98-mph four-seamer for a massive 401-foot home run toward center field. Colson Montgomery scored the winning run on Rogers’ walk-off homer.

The home run marked the first long ball Yan surrendered in his 7-game-long MLB career. The Mets recalled Yan from Triple-A Syracuse on August 4. However, the Mets have no intention of witnessing the same thing for the third time, and Green made it plenty clear.

“His rookie year, learning, growing through it, brings a lot of enthusiasm,” Green said. “Certainly, we’ve encouraged him very strongly to wait till the play is over before that.”

Following the embarrassing moment, Yan vowed to never repeat it.

Jefry Yan on premature celebration

Jefry Yan is still learning the tropes of the big leagues. After spending more than a decade in the minor leagues, this celebration has become a part of Yan’s identity. The Mets recalled him after he posted a 2.40 ERA in 14 outings for Triple-A Syracuse, and so far in the big leagues, he has thrown 6.1 innings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits with 7 strikeouts. Following Friday’s experience with the premature celebration, especially in a game they lost, Yan emphasized the importance of remaining focused.

“That’s one of those situations where it becomes a learning experience,” Yan said postgame via an interpreter, per Underdog MLB.

“You can’t go out there and lose the goal, which is to execute the pitches. I think it won’t happen again. Again, the plan is to execute the pitches, and then once the job is done, you can celebrate the way that you want to.”

On Friday, Yan may have surrendered the game-winning homer to Rogers, but he is not the villain of the Mets’ loss. The Mets had a 4-0 lead that Sean Manaea blew in the bottom of the sixth. He gave up three consecutive home runs to Miguel Vargas, Randal Grichuk, and Montgomery, tying the score.