A fascinating report by Adam Rubin of ESPN New York who looks back at the incredible journey by Jeurys Familia who started the season as the third option for the team’s closer role and ended the year as one of the game’s best while smashing some records along the way.
“He saved us,” Terry Collins said as the Mets worked out at Citi Field on Friday, two days after securing the franchise’s first pennant in 15 years. “He saved the season for us, in my opinion.”
“We had Mejia. And we thought if Bobby comes back 100 percent that he’d be our second guy. And Familia was probably third,” Collins said. “He still was going to be in a big spot in the bullpen. And then, when we lost Mejia, we just said, ‘Listen, he’s the guy with the best stuff. Let’s just see how it works.’ He’s obviously risen above and beyond expectations.”
Familia, 26, tied Armando Benitez for the franchise record, notching 43 saves this season. He has also saved a Mets postseason record five saves through the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Rubin points out how dominating the hard-throwing righty was during the Mets stretch run. In his remaining 30 regular-season appearances, Familia posted a 0.92 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and was 21-for-21 in save conversions.
As I mentioned on Friday, Familia was every bit as valuable in the NLCS and NLDS as Daniel Murphy. I believe he’ll be the difference-maker in the World Series.
