1
2013
Mets Should Move Familia To The Bullpen
An article by 
The Mets don’t have much money to spend, and according to reports, most of the money at GM Sandy Alderson’s disposal will go towards fixing the outfield. The team is limiting itself to one multi-year deal which, again will likely go to an outfielder. Of course, this is necessary to improve the team because frankly, the outfield is terrible and definitely the weakness of the team. However, it will force the Mets to get creative with how they go about constructing the rest of the 2013 roster. While the outfield may be the most pressing issue, the bullpen also frustrated fans all season. They will need to re-tool it, and they will have to do it without spending much money on the open market like they did last season. That brings me to an important question that’s been debated by bloggers and fans all year: should the Mets move Jeurys Familia to the bullpen?
In Buffalo, Familia had a very disappointing season, never able to reconstruct what made him so successful in 2011. He finished the year with a 9-9 record and a 4.73 ERA. He saw his walk rate balloon to an abysmal 4.8 batters per nine innings and his K/9 drop from 9.6 in 2011 to 8.4 in 2012. His strikeout to walk ratio hit a career-low of 1.75. At one point considered a top 100 prospect, Familia and the Mets are still trying to figure out what his role is.
Familia seems to fit the profile of a relief pitcher more than a starter. He was rushed up the minor league ladder thanks to an electric fastball, but he doesn’t have much else. His breaking pitch has upside, and is a pitch that, if consistent, can be an above-average pitch. His change-up, however, is far behind his other pitchers and nowhere near a major-league pitch. Without this pitch, it will be tough for Familia to remain a starter.
One thing that can be said about Familia is how dominant he can be when he’s on. One measurement of how dominant a pitcher is is how often he misses bats and Familia does that very well. In Buffalo, Familia struck out 125 batters, 101 of them on swinging strikes. That’s 80.8% of his strikeouts ending in a swinging strike. Compare that to Zack Wheeler‘s 2012 percentage of just over 75% and you see how Familia has prolific stuff. But again, going back to his repertoire, he doesn’t have the change-up that most MLB starters need to succeed. He is almost a two-pitch pitcher, making the bullpen his most likely destination.
If eased into the role, Familia could become a dominant force in the back of the Mets ‘pen. There, he will have the freedom to let loose his electric fastball and possibly develop his potentially dangerous slider. I’d like to see Familia get a few more starts in the minors before he transitions to a relief role, just to get a few more innings in for development purposes. After that, however, it seems like he could be a prolific force in the back of the Met bullpen for many years to come.
About the Author: Connor O'Brien
I am a very young, but passionate Mets fan who has blogged about the Mets for three years. I hope you all enjoy the unique perspective that a fan like me can bring to the table. More about me... favorite Met- Johan Santana... favorite food- Citi Field burgers and hot dogs!... favorite musician- Mos Def... favorite Mets moment- the no-hitter of course, but I also attended Game 1 of the 2006 NLDS as well as Johan's three-hit shutout in late September 2008. Follow me on Twitter @UpAlongFirst
60 Comments + Add Comment
Recent Comments
- Hotstreak: on Collins Pulled Hefner Because He Was Excited For Him: This is a question for you or...
- Neil: on Collins Pulled Hefner Because He Was Excited For Him: "Collins Pulled Hefner Because He Was Excited...
- El Sid: on Collins Pulled Hefner Because He Was Excited For Him: At least Tejada is a good defender...
- El Sid: on Cowgill and Nieuwenhuis Continue to Struggle in Minors: Bring Cowgill up and send Lagares down....
- Mr North Jersey: on Cowgill and Nieuwenhuis Continue to Struggle in Minors: Capt Kirk has been busy with his...
Need Tickets To The Mets Game?
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
5394 Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1269 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
I would. I don’t think he has the command for starting pitching.
I really like the young bullpen arms we have and Familia would be a great addition. I can see him battling with Domingo Tapia down the road as the closer.
Ditto.
Absolutely agree.
While in general you try to maximize value by keeping a young pitcher as a starter as long as possible, one also has to be realistic.
Familia has now logged 550+ innings as a professional athlete – far more than any of the other higher end Mets pitching prospects – almost 200 more than Jenry Mejia for example. Once you reach 500 IP in the minors, odds are you are pretty much a finished product.
Which in Familia’s case is a plus breaking pitch to go with a mid to upper 90s fastball – but a subpar changeup and shaky command. If he were only one of a couple of promising young arms in the system, one might delay the switch a bit longer. With the impressive depth around him and the longtime bullpen struggles, Familia could be an impact reliever. Break him in as a middle reliever in 2013 – but he could be a very strong in-house candidate as the longterm closer. Octavio Dotel sounds like a pretty good comparison.
Great points.
I definitely agree that there is less pressure to keep him a starter because of the depth.
What depth???
All of those prospects you see as DEPTH have never played a game above Single-A ball…with the only exception being Wheeler and Montero….they can all bust or flame out….ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN…
Ever heard the saying “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,”
or better yet even more fitting
“Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched”
Maybe I am mistaken but I thought that was already the plan. If Familia is on the big league roster coming out of ST, it will be as a reliever.
I believe I read this somewhere as well.
Doesn’t necessarily mean he forever remains in the BP, but they should be able to evaluate Familia on the big club in the BP. Baring a terrible ST, I think he’ll be on the 25 man coming out of the BP.
Without question, yes. I can see him and Leathersich being a strong bridge for Tapia within the next year and a half. I wouldn’t think of him being in the rotation.
The mentality of the the “Now” generation. One sub par year and we have to move him to reliever or trade him. Familia looks more of a starter than Mejia does. Even if we want to trade him, which I don’t, he has more value as a starter than he would as a reliever. At the same time he is young and still can learn a third pitch to go with his moving fastball.
“The mentality of the NOW generation”
Lol…
He has pitched well over 500 pro innings and has been unable to develop a changeup. He will be more effective as a reliever. I was saying this BEFORE last year.
Can ya tell I come from the starter pitches the whole game mentality, and learn as they go along from 5th starter
You can’t argue both that Familia has been rushed (as you do in your post) and that he has ample innings (as you’re doing now).
That said, bullpen should be the last resort for Familia. He should be given at least half a season in Vegas to see if he can continue to develop. Also, he just turned 23 in October, meaning he just ended his age-22 season. Another year in AAA starting is not the worse thing in the world; you can even argue it should be par for the course.
Matter of fact, it’d be great if Familia, Mejia, and Wheeler were all down in AAA to start the year in Vegas’ rotation. Rushing would be putting Familia in the bullpen now. Let him be. Give him more starts, and make a call come second half.
Agree with you Hank. They are all young and need in AAA getting starting innings.
Disagree. Mejia has a deeper repertoire than Familia. Now, Mejia’s frame may preclude him from becoming a durable SP. But he seems like a better bet to get through a major league lineup three times or more. And again, Mejia has 200 innings less experience than Familia. Familia’s ability to miss bats should make him a very good bet to succeed in the bullpen, however.
And considering that a subpar bullpen has been a key part of the reason for the Mets’ lack of success this century, there’s nothing wrong with trying promising arms in the bullpen. Especially if they seem unlikely to succed as starting pitchers.
No problem, I am am old school, so no Saber stuff, no war, no pitch counts, no innings pitched. I go by what I see and know. Even when you go by that stuff, it could be wrong. I agree that he is closer material, but would rather keep him as starter and give him a year of major league innings to find his stuff.
Metstheory22,
You were right the 1st time no need to explain yourself….You dont move a top pitching prospect to the Pen until he FAILS to prove he can hack it….Familia hasnt shown that, he has been successful at every level prior to this year.
These expert scouts were saying how he has better stuff than Harvey and is far ahead last year. Now since he hit a bump in the road in his 1st taste of Triple A they want to toss him in the pen….
For crying out loud you have people in this comment section saying how Tapia should be moved to the pen as well and that kid hasnt event pitched a game over Single A ball…LMAO…Ridiculous!
The Mets have tons of prospects in the minors being groomed for bullpen duty yet some want the Mets to stick there Top SP prospects there…Do they realize how unpredictable relievers are year to year…Why would you want to lower your top talents ceilings??? Its that New age thinking…SABR gone wrong
Virtually every scout agrees is a reliever longterm.
After 550+ innings, Familia still remains a two-pitch pitcher with shaky ommand.
Considering how terrible the Mets have been coming up with big time relievers, here’s arguably the best chance at one over the next couple of years.
Sometimes delaying the inevitable doesn’t make sense.
Btw, Matt Harvey’s changeup is a lot further along than Familia’s – besides better control and repeatability. And Harvey was rated ahead of Familia prior to 2011 – even before having a better 2012 season.
As for Domingo Tapia, yes he could probably hold his own in a major league bullpen right now. However, he should spend all of 2013 in a minor league rotation to work on his secondary stuff. Tapia could be a major league option by mid 2014 – be it as a SP or as a reliever. And unlike Familia, Tapia has way to go gaining experience against more advanced hitters.
To me, Mejia remains the far more difficult question in terms of future role.
So you admit this FO failed to develop Familia as a Starting Pitcher to meet the CIELING all you guys covet so much as SURE THING prospects?
Could just be that Familia is a mental midget and hasn’t picked up what is being taught him.
Still a failure to develop him no matter how you slice it…
Our best hopes at Pitcher were all developed by other people…
Niese, Gee, Harvey, even Wheeler had pretty much what he did by the time we got him….
And considering how they screwed up two starts of Harvey’s pushing him to throw this same CHANGEUP they seem to love perhaps the problem is they are trying to teach him something he can’t do and have yet to start teaching him something else that would make him a good Starter…
So in your estimation, every prospect should pan out, or else it’s the failure of the team to develop them? Solid logic.
No in m estimation if you fail with one top 100 prospect you will fail with others as well…
Making having them much less important if all your going to do is waste them.
Your problem would seem to be you think being on BA’s list makes you good….
F-Mart proves otherwise…
defensive much? Familia was partially developed by the previous front office too.
So was Harvey.. and Gee and Niese..Whats your point?
Err, the front office ????
There never was an expectation of Familia to emerge as a frontline SP.
And if Familia becomes a high end reliever, that’d be a great outcome – considering the low number of decent relievers produced by this organization this century, even more so…
This organization will have to develop strong relief pitching for a turnaround besides quality starting pitching. To be more successul than recent Mets teams that -except for a flukish 2006 version – have run out well below average bullpens.
“Virtually every scout agrees is a reliever longterm.
After 550+ innings, Familia still remains a two-pitch pitcher with shaky command.”
Yah I hear you…..Virtually every scout said Pedro Martinez was a reliever longterm as well….
Couple years later he is considered one of the best pitchers to play the game.
I could care less what people say I want to see this kid PROVE he cant be a starter. I dont want to be told by talking heads. Im sure if you ask all those virtual scouts how many times theyve been wrong on a player it is a lot more than not.
“Btw, Matt Harvey’s changeup is a lot further along than Familia’s – besides better control and repeatability.”
Lol…I remember when we 1st acquired Wheeler everyone automatically put him ahead of Harvey and said he was the better pitcher and Harvey looks like a solid #3 but when given the chance to pitch in the Majors so far Harvey is all ACES. I also remember when these same scouts were saying that Familia has better stuff than Harvey as well and only if he could master that 3rd pitch. My question to you is
WHY GIVE UP ON FAMILIA NOW??? Didnt you just say above that the Mets rushed Pelfrey? So why rush and give up on Familia he will only be 23yrs old when he pitches next year. He’ll be 1 1/2 years older than a kid coming out of college next year…
What Mets fans like you are doing is rushing prospects to fill holes on the major league club because Alderson wont add talent to it….You guys are screaming Sandy is doing a great job not wasting money on players in 2013 because 2014 is the year…So why rush Familia in 2013 he has until 2014. right? When the big plan manifests itself..lol
They are considering it. As soon as I saw the title, I knew who must have wrote it.
What do you mean?
To me a reliever still has to have 2 or 3 average to above average pitches and command of those to be effective. What separates a reliever and starter is the ability to work through a lineup the third time up.
Now if Zach Wheeler didn’t have a change up yet, you wouldn’t try to put him in the pen. Not saying that Familia isn’t destined for the pen, but just let the man start in buffalo if he’s having a great year as a starter bring him up as a starter when need be
Well, Wheeler already has a much better changeup than Familia in spite of 200+ fewer minor league innings.
So, yes, if Wheeler had failed to develop an adequate changeup after 5 years in the minors and pretty much every scout agreed that his future is in the bullpen, maybe making a permanent role where he’ d get the best chance for him to succeed would make sense.
Do you HAVE to have a hangeup to be a starter?
Are there no other pitches you can learn?
You need a decent third pitch
And I repeat…That pitch HAS to be a changeup?
Every Starter in the MLB throws a changeup or he must go into the pen?
Third Pitch FINE but if he can’t throw a Changeup as that third pitch teach him to throw something else!
Why is the focus for every kid seem to be throw changeups?
Is it organizational? Sabermetrical? or just another stubborn philosophy this FO seems to want to force kids to do despite what they are naturally gifted and able to achieve?
No – but if you want to get through a major league lineup without above average command, you better have one.
Or the best case is a starting pitcher like John Maine ( who actually had a decent changeup and better command but is at 100 pitches in the 5th inning). And even that may be too much to ask.
Would you rather have a 15 % chance at a quality SP or a 50 % chance at a quality reliever ?
There are a TON of Starting Pitchers in the MLB who don’t throw a Changeup.
A third Pitch yes…a Changeup NO!
Yes, a splitter or a cut fastball, heck a palmball will do too – even if these pitches are usually more taxing on your arm. That´s why the changeup has generally become the standard off-speed pitch in today´s game.
Speaking of 3rd pitches, the reason why Domingo Tapia gets mentioned as a potential bullpen candidate is the lack of a quality breaking pitch at this point. He throws a plus plus fastball and a good changeup. And actually – unlike Familia – has pretty good control. However, his breaking stuff is lagging and he´ll need it to pitch through a major league lineup multiple times with success.
However, Tapia probably has a better chance to start than Familia. Because of better control and consistency of his pitches.
Famila – based on his current stuff – can potentially dominate a major lineup. However, due to spotty command and – currently – no adequate off-speed pitch, it´ll probably take him 20 to 25 pitches per inning to do so, which means, he´ll be at 100 to 110 pitches after 5 innings. If you average 20 pitches per inning as a reliever, it´s no problem. If you do the same as a SP, it is.
It´s basically all about pitch efficiency and getting your team through 6+ innings as a SP.
For that to happen you need to be able to control your stuff and have diverse stuff to avoid major league hitters “sitting” on a certain pitch and at least being able to foul it off when it comes.
And if you look at the scouting reports of Matt Harvey, the reason why most have projected him to be more of a # 2/3 starter than an ace is his only average command and fringe average changeup – which he made significant strides with in 2012, btw. In fact, his changeup – while still inconsistent – has emerged as a true out-pitch when it´s on. If Harvey gets to be more consistent with it – and his other pitches as well – the upside for him to become a # 1 SP is there.
That´s why development (generally in the minors) is so important. And while it´s only a rule of thumb, a pitcher should basically be “developed” after about 500 innings in the minors (maybe 250 to 300 are enough for a pitcher out of an advanced college program). Since Familia is well over that number, at least the odds of him adding something to his game seem quite low – lower than for Tapia, lower than for Mejia, lower than for Wheeler, Fulmer, Montero, Syndergaard and others for that matter. Though I´ll admit that pitchers have found something at much later ages occasionally too.
Still, I really like Familia. And he could become a dominating late inning bullpen force – which you also need to build a championship caliber team.
“At one point considered a top 100 prospect,”
>>Well according to MLB.com Familia is still considered a Top 100 prospect.
“His CHANGE-UP, however, is far behind his other pitchers and nowhere near a major-league pitch. Without this pitch, it will be tough for Familia to remain a starter.”
“Familia has prolific stuff. But again, going back to his repertoire, he doesn’t have the CHANGE-UP that most MLB starters need to succeed.”
>>You know whom else doesnt have an effective CHANGE-UP? …………..MATT HARVEY!!!
We all know what happened to Harvey when Sandman, Collins & Warthen forced this kid(Harvey) to throw more changeups vs a terrible Padres lineup…He was lit up like a pinata … after completely dominating the D’backs and looking like a stud versus the eventual World Series Champs SF Giants.
He struggled in his 1st taste of Triple A so toss him to the pen? He pitched at age 22 last year in AAA and your saying he is what he is and cant improve because he pitched 500innings in the minors….Really?!?!
The LAST thing you do with a pitcher with Familia’s talent and upside is throw him in the bullpen. He has already shown how durable he is logging over 120Innings or more throughout his minors career. At worst he is an innings eater not a bullpen arm….Guys like Kimbrel end up in the pen because they arent effective after a certain amount of innings…Familia doesnt have that problem…What you are proposing is that we give up on Familia now and turn him into a Frank Francisco type.No Thanks
At the very least I give Familia another year in Triple A….
You dont rush a prospect to the majors or stick him in the pen– which he’s never done before just because the General manager sucks and FAILS to improve the major league roster through trades & free agency…
Mets fans love to praise how the Rays operate I have yet to see them stick a top prospect SP in the bullpen just because they have a need.
Re: top Rays prospects, Jake McGee and Wade Davis would disagree.
And both of them were higher ranked than Familia without lingering questions of holding up as starting pitchers.
And sure, there’s a chance that Familia suddenly discovers the way towards an adequate changeup or improves his command. However, it’s highly unlikely considering how much time he has already logged in the minors.
If Familia were the only promising pitching prospect in the system, maybe you desperately hope for something to click. Since he’s fortunately not, let’s find a role where he’s more likely to succeed. And can also be of better help to the Mets.
>>>>If Familia were the only promising pitching prospect in the system, maybe you desperately hope for something to click. Since he’s fortunately not, let’s find a role where he’s more likely to succeed. And can also be of better help to the Mets.<<<<>>top Rays prospects, Jake McGee and Wade Davis would disagree.<<<
For one you are wrong on Wade Davis the Rays brought him up as a starter and he pitched as a starter for his 1st 3 seasons in the Majors. So they gave him EVERY chance to remain a Starting Pitcher but due to his low strikeout rate and being beaten out by 2 other TOP PROSPECTS(Hellickson and Alex Cobb) he lost his spot.
Mcgee was moved to the bullpen after Tommy John surgery cost him 2 years in the minors. Before being called up he transitioned to the pen and spent a year and a half as a relief pitcher in the Rays farm…and also because there was NO ROOM FOR HIM to advance on the 5man rotation…not to mention Matt Moore(whom is also a LHP) the best pitching prospect in all of baseball at the time bumped him as next in line and they were higher on guys like Moore, Hellickson, Cobb…Where would they put him in the rotation then? Over Price, Shields.
The Rays had a good problem of having too much major league ready pitching prospects at the same time…The mets DONT have that luxury.Unless youre counting bums like Hefner or non prospects like Colin Mchugh, Gorski with little to no upside….
By mid 2013, the Mets rotation should feature Matt Harvey, Zach Wheeler, Jon Niese, Dillon Gee and Johan Santana. With Jenry Mejia – a better candidate to start than Familia imho – also in the mix.
Again, sure, one can give Familia 30+ starts at the major league level and see what happens. Maybe he grows with the assignment. However, what I see is a pitcher who´ll rarely make it into the 6th inning because he´ll be at 110 pitches after 5 innings with spotty command and too many foulballs, especially by lefty hitters who can fight off his plus fastball and plus slider more frequently. Since the Mets do have several other options both short- and longterm, mostly pitchers with much better control than Familia has already in spite of far less pro experience, keeping Familia in the rotation at all cost doesn´t seem necessary.
While there´s really no useful available stat to measure the importance of quality relievers available to the public, they certainly are quite important in building a strong team. Especially one that wants to have a chance in October too eventually.
Seems like the mets intend to use Familia out of the pen but I think it’s a bad move. Familia is still young enough to learn a change up in AAA. Just sign a reliever and give him another year to develop. There is absolutely no good reason to force him into the pen in a team who clearly is not ready to win Mejia all over again.
EXACTLY!!!
I hope we refrain from signing any relievers and wasting good money. I want to see what we have in Familia, Carson, Mejia and Edgin and they need regular playing time.
Mejia should start in the minors, Famillia should be an early inning reliever who can give multiple innings if needed. Think the met bullpen has potential if Francisco gets back to his usual numbers, Parnell has proved to be good numbers wise at least, maybe can be gone through in more high pressure situations this year. What I think might go as an underrated signing is Greg Burke, after reading an article about him and doing some research he might actually be a big piece. He has changed to a side arm delivery and has dominated right handers since. I can see and obviously hope for a chad Bradford type reliever at his best vs right handers at least. Gives the bullpen a different look as well. But I still think they should go hard after J.P Howell to go with Edgin from the left side.
I am guessing that barring injury Spring Training will be a battle between Familia and Mejia for the 5th starter spot with the loser most likely going to the pen.
After the debacle where they asked Harvey to throw more changeups, and the insistence that Familia not start unless he gets one…
I’m starting to wonder if all this Changeup frenzy is similar to the Plate Patience thing where every pitcher must throw a changeup or batter have a high PPPA to make the team.
Lets face some truths here…If Familia really needs a breaking ball to be a starter why does it have to be a changeup? Teach him to thorw a sinker, If a traditional changeup is not working try a circle change which many hard throwing pitchers find easier.
Ideally Familia should get the 5th starter job with Mejia remaining in AAA to work on his stamina and working the lineup.
If Familia fails then move him to the pen and bring up Mejia or maybe by then Wheeler.
But we shouldn’t forget that this is very likely Santana’s last year in our rotation and truth is he might be the BEST candidate for the pen considering his shoulder and how he only made it to July last year.
Wheeler will come up to replace Dickey but we will still need someone to replace Santana in the lineup next year and the best two guys to do that are Mejia and Familia….
Put either or both in the pen and it will be difficult to put them back in the rotation with thier experience level.
Lets face facts here, We traded away Dickey because we decided 2013 wasn’t worth it, We passed on all of the OFers who could help because 2013 wasn’t worth having them…
Might as well sign scrubs again (which has failed 2 times previously) because what is the point of having a good pen on a season we have given up on? what we are going to buy will only be a one year deal anyway so even if we found a good one he’s gone by 2014.
Once you have found the guy to replace Santana THEN you can throw whats left in the pen…
But not until next year when Santana is gone.
If they want to fill the Pen from within then use all those kids who have ZERO chance of ever being a starter in the MLB. Not one of the two best starter options you have.
If your so worried about 2013 you should have thought about that before we quit on building and filling in the major holes we had before all the good players were gone in FA.
Unfortunately the Mets rushed Mike Pelfrey into a major league rotation role before giving him the time to develop a solid changeup or breaking ball.
Kidding aside, how many SP in the majors with fringe average or below average command have emerged as frontline SP without an adequat changeup ?
You can also use a cutter or splitter for that matter instead – though those pitches have often come at the expense of more frequent arm injuries.
gio gonzalez is the only guy i can think of.
Seaver didn’t have a great changeup he merely changed speeds on his fastball without having to choke up on the ball….Neither did Nolan Ryan…
Bob Gibson never used it if he had it….
You have a fastball and curve you don’t really need the changeup provided you can throw 2 seam, 4 seam to get different movement.
Well, Seaver had great control of his pitches though while Ryan – who took a bit longer to get established – had an 80 fastball and an 80 curveball.
It´s the combination of control (and command within the zone) and quality of pitches that make a pitcher. The more you have of the first, the less you can get by with the latter. Dillon Gee has merely an average fastball and a fringe average breaking pitch. But he has a fine changeup and well above average command. That´s a more likely SP arsenal to succeed than Jeurys Familia with a plus fastball, a plus slider but a well below average changeup and below average command.
“Unfortunately the Mets rushed Mike Pelfrey into a major….”
And Sandy went with him as our Ace….
I´m sure Sandy would rather have inherited Madison Bumgarner or Mat Latos or Johnny Cueto – but unfortunately it was merely Mike Pelfrey.
And unfortunately there was no money left to spend to sign Cliff Lee as a free agent that off-season to become the ace because that money was already going to two lefties in injured Johan Santana and ineffective Oliver Perez….
Scouts have been saying for years that this guy fits better in the pen. Familia lacks the pitchability of a SP, his command is less than average and you’re not going to get any length out of this guy nor Mejia as a SP. Familia averaged less than 5IP per start last year for Buffalo. However, this guy and Carson need more reps and experience as a reliever at AAA. It is crazy to expect a player to switch positions on the fly in the bigs. I don’t buy the common theory that every pitcher in the minors is a SP to get more reps to develop their secondaries and command. I think a determination on a pitcher- either SP or reliever should be made by the time the pitcher reaches AAA and then that pitcher get a suitable number of reps in his projected role in the bigs at AAA.
Yes Sach but remember scouts only talk about what they see and do not take into consideration what he could develop nor even speculate how coachable he is in any meaningfull way….
Sure they talk to coaches who in most cases will prefer to talk up a player than say Nope he is dumb as a cart!
The Scouting projects him as that because he has control issues….
And the truth is his lack of a good third pitch is the likely cause of those control issues.
When you only have two pitches to throw you have to move the ball around instead and when you try and do that you miss a lot more.
This is where the DEVELOPMENT we keep hearing this FO has improved so much has failed Familia (and many others considering all the droning on about lack of real prospects in the system)
Will Familia wind up in the Pen as the scouts suggested?
Probably but thats because they failed to develop him and that third pitch and when combined with thier two failed attempts to focus on rebuilding a Bullpen will have no choice but to put him there because they have yet to sign anyone who is NOT coming off injury or merely a MiL contract signing to the team and all that is left are two guys who SHOULD be starters but the organization has failed in finding a way of teaching them to be that.
Funny btw how a supposed “failure” of Familia (though a shutdown reliever certainly would be a tremendous success) gets attributed to this front office while a potential success of Matt Harvey – who threw his first pro pitch in 2011 under this FO – or Zach Wheeler – who besides being acquired by this FO had barely thrown 200 pro innings – gets attributed to former front offices. Seems like a double standard to measure success.
And tell you what, odds that a top 100 overall pitching prospect becomes a front of the rotation SP is significantly less than 50 %. Pretty much for EVERY front office. Which is why you want to assemble as many as you can to have as good a shot as possible.
The Giants have done a GREAT job with their young pitchers. However, Jesse Foppert, Merkin Valdez, Jonathan Sanchez or Kurt Ainsworth – all formerly highly touted pitching prospects for SF – all never amounted to much.
Still, Cain – Bumgarner – Lincecum is about as successful it can get.
Lol, famillia is not nearly as high a prospect as Wheeler,lets relax there, Wheeler and Harvey are in the catagory or top prospects in baseball, not top prospects in Mets system. Strong difference. There is strength in numbers, that’s why you build a strong farm with waves of talent. Famillia should end up in the pen and most likely produce there over time. And I still do not get the punting 2013 season, I actually see the Mets must likely being better.
Familia does have an intimidating presence when he’s not falling all over the mound. If he could be a closer maybe, but anything less would be wasting his talent.
Exactly Matt!
On a team that everyone seems conviced we have a lack of talent which is why we need to trade away Cy Young Pitchers to get it, We can not afford to WASTE talent by throwing it inot the pen when he has done reasonably well as a starter if not for control issues that could get you 6-7 innings instead of one!
Only if the guy can serve as your long term fireman do you entertain putting a pitcher like that in the pen because they are almost as important as starters are to the team as far as winning games go.
Familia is a pitching prospect not a stud starting pitcher who has already proved he can be a prolific major leaguer and we are having this conversatIon because he had one bad season . He has only been dominant against lower level minor leaguers He’s logged alot of minor league innings and at this point he is what he is. Bobby Parnell wasn’t a starter but so many people wanted him in the rotation. We as fans have such a fascination with our prospects that we can’t see them for that they are. We would be lucky to have Familia make a contribution to this team as a reliever. He would b lucky to have made it to the big leagues. We have several other starting pitching prospects ,prospects with a deeper repertoire than Familia. If he can make it as a reliever and can be as dominant as we all hope I’d be happy to have him pitching in the 7th 8th or 9th inning