Jeurys Familia told the New York Post on Friday that he doesn’t mind what his role in the bullpen is, he just wants to help the team win. Southpaw Jerry Blevins echoed that notion.
“As long as our manager and our pitching coach are honest and open about what we need to do — which they have been — we’ll be ready,” Blevins said.
“We’ve had some talks inside and he’s spoken to the media about. […] putting us in the bullpen in the best chance to succeed. […]whether it’s getting guys up and not putting them in. Whether it’s them not being prepared in a certain inning. I think we’re trying to avoid all those things.”
Mets manager Mickey Callaway has made it known he would prefer to use a closer-by-committee to begin the season and that he will use pitchers to their strengths.
Along with Familia and Blevins, they also have AJ Ramos and Anthony Swarzak as back-end options.
Blevins is projected to be the lone left-hander out in the ‘pen. He discussed the starting pitching as well.
“We’re all pulling for each other,” he said. “We want our starters to go seven, eight, nine (innings) every time. It just does make it a little more difficult over the long haul if we can’t have guys that push into those latter innings, because those are innings that we have to fill up. It can be a little taxing.”
The 34-year-old had a 2.94 ERA with a 3.12 FIP in 75 games (49.0 IP) last season for New York.
