As most of you know, Jeurys Familia took over the closer’s role this season after Jenrry Mejia was suspended for using performance enhancing drugs shortly after Opening Day last April. The suspension shocked everyone and nobody knew how Familia would fare in his new pressure-packed role.
But Familia eased all our concerns and embraced his new role, becoming one of the most dominant shutdown closers in the game en route to recording a franchise record tying 43 saves in the regular season.
The hard-throwing righty cruised through the NLDS and NLCS, going 5-for-5 in save opportunities and tossing 9.1 scoreless innings. But then he struggled somewhat in the World Series and was charged with three blown saves.
The first blown save came in Game 1 when Alex Gordon crushed a game tying home run. Familia tried to quick pitch the Royals’ left fielder, but Gordon was ready after watching him quick pitch the previous hitter while in the on-deck circle.
His next two blown saves however, were hardly his fault and came as a result of defensive miscues by Daniel Murphy and Lucas Duda in Game 4 and Game 5 respectively. Both defensive gaffes led to the tying run scoring in each game.
In Game 4, Familia entered the eighth inning with one out and runners on first and second after Tyler Clippard began the frame and issued consecutive walks. Familia induced the groundball he needed for a potential double play, but Murphy failed to field the easy grounder to him and the tying run scored.
There’s also a subplot to that blown save. After that loss, Terry Collins was asked why he didn’t bring in Familia to start the inning and go for the six-out save as he had during the previous rounds of the playoffs.
The Mets manager explained that he didn’t want to overwork Familia after bringing him in to protect a six-run lead the previous night. During Game 3, Collins burned his top three bullpen options unnecessarily and it may have cost him when he needed all three the most.
In Game 5, Collins initially planned to start the ninth inning with Familia. bat was talked out of it by an insistent Matt Harvey, who wanted to go back out and complete the shutout with the Mets leading 2-0. It was a decision Collins would later regret.
By the time Familia entered the game in the ninth, the Royals cut the Mets lead to 2-1 with the tying run on second base and nobody out. The Royals scored the tying run when Duda’s throw sailed past catcher Travis d’Arnaud, sending the game into extra innings. The Royals would later score five runs in the 12th inning to win the World Series.
“I understand that in baseball anything can happen. I can make mistakes, teammates can make mistakes,” Familia would later say.
“For me, I feel like I did what I was supposed to do. But things happen sometimes. Baseball is a crazy game. I wanted to save the game for Harvey. He was great. I didn’t want it to happen that way, but it did happen.”
“Nobody believed in the Mets this year, nobody believed we would be in this spot, and everyone in this room should be proud. This is still a great year,” said Familia.
“I know we lost the World Series, but I know we came every day to enjoy it and it was great to have the opportunity to be here. It didn’t work out, but that’s baseball… I hope the next time we get back there, it will be different.”
In all fairness, Familia threw a poorly located pitch high in the zone to Gordon in Game One, that loss was on him. But it was a shame to see him get saddled with the other two blown saves as on both occasions the defense let him down and we lost two games that we should have won. It underscored just how important infield defense is, and hopefully that is something Sandy Alderson will address this offseason.
As for Collins wasting bullets in Game 3 and using up Addison Reed, Clippard and Familia to protect a six run lead? It was an awful decision that may have manifested itself in how the rest of the World Series played out. We’ll never know for sure, but while Ned Yost did all he could to keep his top relievers fresh for when he needed them most, Collins did the complete opposite and it may have cost us a title.
