3 UP

1.  That Looked Like Familia

It’s become quite en vogue to over-focus on the World Series blown saves and the Conor Gillapsie home run in the Wild Card Game last year.  However, those moments obfuscate the truth.  The truth is that when healthy, Jeurys Familia is one of the best closers in the game.

We were reminded of that over the weekend.  With temporary closer AJ Ramos struggling, Familia was brought in with runners at the corners and two outs. Familia earned his first save since coming off the disabled list by striking out Victor Robles.

The right-hander then came in the following night and pitched great, preserving a 3-3 tie in the ninth inning. Familia would record two quick outs before yielding a two out double to Trea Turner. He wasn’t flapped striking out Jayson Werth to get out of the inning.

Pitching this dominant in back-t0-back games used to be status quo from Familia. With his injuries, it was the first time he’s done so this year.  Hopefully, this is an indication he will be ready to return to form next season.  If so, the Mets have a major piece in place as the team hopes to return to contention next year.

2. DeBenchmarks

Unfortunately, Jacob deGrom would not get to win No. 16 in his final home start of the season.  However, he certainly pitched well enough to win the game like he has done in a season where he has set a number of career highs.

With the six innings pitched yesterday, deGrom has eclipsed 200 innings for the first time in his career.  With the 11 strikeouts, the ace has set a new career high with 11 double digit strikeout games.  The 239 strikeouts were also a career high for deGrom.

On the season, the right-hander wasn’t perfect and he struggled more than we have ever seen him struggle in a Major League uniform. However, we have seen him healthy for a full season the year after having surgery to repair a nerve in his pitching elbow.  More importantly, he went a full year without landing on the disabled list making him the only starter on the team to accomplish that.

3. Thor Drops the Hammer

Because the Mets have made skeptics of us all, many question the motivation for the Mets pitching Noah Syndergaard for one inning against the Nationals on Saturday.  Whatever the reason, it was great to see the Mets ace taking the mound once again. It was even better to see him leave the mound after retiring the side rather than due to injury.

Ultimately, we do not know the purpose of this appearance or what Syndergaard got out of it. From a fan perspective, it was certainly comforting to see him pitch and pitch well. At least for one meaningless game, you had good reason to watch and believe there can be big things in store for the Mets next year.

3 DOWN

1. Nimmo Striking Out

This season has largely been a successful audition for Brandon Nimmo. So much so, that we finally have a real warning sign for him going forward.  This weekend he was overmatched striking out seven times in the three game series against the Nationals.

To be fair, this was a series where he had to face Stephen Strasburg and Max Scherzer.  However, he has faced more pitchers than just those two.

Overall, Nimmo has struck out at least one time in 14 straight games.  On the season, Nimmo has struck out in 28.8 percent of his plate appearances, which is quite high.  While there are some parts of his game you really like, such as his ability to draw walks, the strikeouts are beginning to stand out and it is an area he needs to improve.

2.  Sandy’s Trade Deadline Acquisitions

Daniel Murphy would take Jacob Rhame deep in the 10th inning Saturday en route to the Nationals 4-3 win.  It was the first decision in Rhame’s brief Major League career.

Rhame has mostly struggled in his six appearances going 0-1 with a 14.40 ERA, 3.200 WHIP and a 9.0 BB/9.  These stats are worse, but not too dissimilar than the stats Jamie Callahan has posted this year.  In six appearances, Callahan is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.400 WHIP.

Now, both pitchers are both young a promising and this is an extremely small sample size. Moreover, these are just two relievers out of the six relief prospects obtained at the trade deadline. The hope is both of these pitchers are better for the experience.

3. Mets Are Far Away

With Sunday’s win, the Nationals took the season series from the Mets winning 13 of the 19 games between the teams. At Citi Field, the Nationals took eight of the 10 games. It was complete and utter domination highlighting just how far apart these two teams are right now.

This just highlights how much work the Mets have to do this offseason.  Whether they do it, or they do enough, remains to be seen.