Oct
9
2012

MMO Minors Mailbag: Familia/Mejia – Starters Or Relievers

An article by Sean Kenny

Aaron W. asks…

Who is the better starter between Jenrry Mejia and Jeurys Familia? Is one better than the other? Are they starters or relievers in your opihion?

`Sean replies...`

The Jeurys Familia/Jenrry Mejia question will loom large in 2013, and honestly – there aren’t many accurate answers. Familia had a mixed season, and despite his ERA his control did in fact improve as the season went on, going down from 22 walks in 21.2 April innings, to 12 walks in 33.2 innings in August. The stuff is there, and a key fact to remember is Familia didn’t begin pitching until he was 16, as where prospects like Jon Niese had been drafted with years of experience – at 18.

Jenrry Mejia has been bounced around and had his progress butchered by consistently moving from the rotation to the bullpen. His 2011 season was cut short by TJ surgery, and as with most TJ survivors, the control is the last thing to return. Mejia’s control in the minors wasn’t horrible – but the strikeouts vanished. Mejia has a special fastball with so much natural movement, but he will always be wild regardless of release point. In his two starts for the Mets in 2012, he allowed four runs on ten hits, while walking four and striking out seven.

Both pitchers struggle with a defined secondary pitch and a changeup, but when thrown properly Mejia’s curve trumps Familia’s slurvy offering. However, the difference in their fastballs is the different actions. Familia with a true power-sinker style fastball has strong movement on the vertical plane, and Mejia’s cutter has strong movement on the horizontal plane.

To cut this short and get to the question – I think Familia can work as a starter due to his size (6’4, 230) and ability to miss bats despite control. Familia may never be a front-line starter, but has more upside. Mejia gets a mulligan for his control in 2012, but if he regains that control and still has a low strikeout rate, his value will be entirely tied to his ability to coax weak contact via the fastball.

Bottom Line: Familia will spend his 2013 season refining some things in the minors in hopes of starting in the majors, while Mejia – with a strong spring training – could win a job in the Mets bullpen.

About the Author: Sean Kenny

Sean Kenny is a student/writer currently attending school at the City College of New York. For more Mets news, notes and thoughts follow him on twitter @TheSeanKenny

8 Comments + Add Comment

Hank October 9, 2012 at 2:26 pm

Can we please give both of them a half a season in AAA starting before we pigeon-hole them into a bullpen role. The Mets keep citing Texas as an example for guys moving from bullpen to rotation. Look at Texas’ list of arm injuries and that should put an end to that madness.

Starting pitching depth is solid with Dickey, Niese, Santana, and Harvey. Gee if healthy, backed up by Hefner, McHugh and the Pips until Wheeler is ready. There’s is no need to put these kids in the bullpen without at least another year with them starting.
- stick October 9, 2012 at 2:34 pm
  
  they both should start in AAA because they both need more work/innings to get their overall “stuff” and control/approach to be ML ready. Not just 1 pitch they have no particular control over.
  
  and the best way to do that is to be on a regular schedule in the rotation, to get more innings, and to have planned between start BP sessions to work on specific things.
  
  if they get to the point where they seem to have plateaued, or for whatever reason seem to clearly not look like viable ML level SPs, then you can move them to the pen.
  
  but IMO neither guy should break camp with the Mets in the pen, unless they have a huge improvement over the winter and really turn heads in ST, and of course, the pen has openings and the rotation doesn’t!
  
  and no, it would not be locking either guy into the pen for their career.
Javi October 9, 2012 at 2:59 pm

Mejia to the Pen. Familia to Vegas or Bingo to work on his secondary pitches as a starter.
Metstheory22 October 9, 2012 at 4:00 pm

I like what we saw of Familia at end of year. I hope we keep him as a starter. I would use Mejia as a trade chip for an outfielder or catcher.
Metsie October 9, 2012 at 5:14 pm

Bottomline here is if your not sure if they are Starters or Relievers then they should be starters until they convince you otherwise.
- Hank October 9, 2012 at 5:19 pm
  
  Amen and amen.
Even Flow October 9, 2012 at 8:10 pm

Mejia should be in the rotation (no more screwing around with this guy!) and Familia should be in the pen until he gets that wildness under control. I can’t trust him as the game goes, starter wise.
sarge69 October 10, 2012 at 11:51 pm

Hey Hugh, it would depend which one of the Pips?
I say let them each pitch as starters to see how their pitches and control improve.
Doesn’t make sense to put them BP until you see how they have improved because their Major League appearances were not impressive but you have to see what you can expect from them for future rotation, BP roles.

Not rushing them and allowing for development could possibly shape rotation and /or possible trade parts going forward.

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