Last night, Jeurys Familia showed why he’s the closer of the future for the Mets. He entered the game with one out in the eighth and finished off a five-out save. It marked Familia’s third straight outing of more than one inning and his fourth this season.
Familia’s numbers this season are absolutely incredible. The 25 year-old has a 1.35 ERA in 26.2 innings over 25 games, striking out 32 batters and walking seven. He has allowed just 15 hits and four runs all season. Jenrry Mejia was pretty stellar last year, but even he gave up more than a hit per inning pitched.
For once, I agree with Terry Collins here. With a closer so dominant, it doesn’t make sense to limit him to the cookie-cutter one inning role. Managers these days are probably too careful with their closers. Collins summed it up well after the game:
“We’ve got what I consider one of the best in the league sitting there. I’m not going to let Goldschmidt hit off anybody but him. So if you send him out there, you might as well finish with him. We’ll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. I was here when K-Rod [Francisco Rodriguez] was here. Thirty pitches a night two or three nights in a row is no big deal.”
The idea of replacing the closer with a so-called “relief ace” has been thrown around a lot in recent years, but teams have been afraid to fully commit to the idea, perhaps because of the mental aspects of closing out a game. The thinking is that if pitchers are more sure of their roles, they can focus more on the game and and pitch better.
Right now, Familia is not only looking like the team’s relief ace, but he may very well be the team MVP. The Mets have been unable to score much, so most of their wins have come in tight games. Right now, the bullpen is as critical as ever, and Familia has delivered. He has 16 saves (third in baseball) and 23 games finished on the year, which leads baseball. When Mejia was lost at the beginning of the season, the bullpen suddenly became a big question mark. As of this morning, the Mets’ bullpen owns a 2.54 ERA, fourth in baseball. While the Mets starters have received most of the headlines so far this season, the bullpen has been the glue holding the team together, and Familia is a huge part of that.
With Mejia, Vic Black, and Bobby Parnell all hopefully coming back at some point this season, Familia will receive even more help in keeping the Mets afloat.
