Jeurys FamiliaEarlier this week, New York Mets manager Terry Collins announced that Jeurys Familia will continue to hold the closer’s role for the first few weeks of Bobby Parnell’s return from TJ Surgery. This means that Familia will be holding the closer’s job well into the beginning of the season, and may hold onto it for a long while after that. Both of these two have had success in their tenure as closer, but many Mets fans seem to think that Parnell would be better suited for the job when he returns. However, while this may seem a bit hard to swallow at first, it may not be as bad as it sounds. There are positives for both players holding the closer role in 2015, so the real question comes down to: Who is better suited?

The case for Familia: Familia has done an extraordinary job so far this season for the Mets, but it was a bit unorthodox how he did it. Going into the season, Jennry Mejia was supposed to be the Mets’ closer, but when he was suspended 80 games for a failed drug test, the job went to Familia. Since then, Familia has allowed just two earned runs and hass yet to blow a save. Familia is one of the main reasons that the Mets are the best team in the National League, and he has proven that he can be a threat out of the bullpen anywhere from 4-5 games a week if needed. Last season, Familia sported a 1.0 WAR, 73 strikeouts, and a 3.07 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching), numbers that he should be able to replicate, if not improve, this season.

The case for Parnell: Parnell became the Mets closer a few years back and established himself as one of the best young relievers in the game. When Parnell finishes rehab and joins the major league club, he will be in his age 30 season, and will most likely continue to throw in the upper 90’s. Parnell is a threat to both lefties and righties and has a career ERA under 4.00. In his last full season, Parnell had a 0.7 WAR, saved 22 games, and struck out nearly 22% of the batters he faced. Of course, coming off of TJ Surgery may be a little bit rough at first, but Parnell should be able to get back on track and be as dominant as he has proven he can be.

Collins has a difficult decision to make when Parnell comes back later in the season. However, he did tell the press, “if Bobby Parnell and Vic Black show up tomorrow, Jeurys Familia will still close,” so he seems to be pretty set on Familia in 2015. As we all know, this may change as the season goes on, so it will be interesting to see what happens within the Mets bullpen when it begins to get healthy again.

22 comments on “Reacting to Familia saving over Parnell

  • Eric

    if you don’t think Familia is the closer going forward you’re not paying attention. His stuff is better than Parnell’s and his sinker is a better out pitch than Parnell’s.

  • Peter Hyatt

    Let’s hope Parnell does make TC’s job difficult. Short news blurb today said Parenell “struggling” thus far. Fastball at 90. He needs to be close to having that high 90’s fastball he once had as it was his go-to pitch.

    • Dan Kolton

      To make things even more interesting, Mejia will be done serving his suspension in a matter of time. the Mets will then have three closers and Vic Black…

      • Kev

        If the Mets have postseason aspirations, why would they go to Mejia,who, by his own boneheadedness, is ineligible for the postseason roster? This is a non-issue.

  • Chris F

    Relief Pitchers, and closers in particular, are a finicky bunch. One year you are the best, the next year its impossible to throw a strike. Very few people are removed from this, and the turnover at closer is about the same as a fry cook at a fast food joint.

    Presently, there is no Bobby Parnell, so of this pairing Familia is the only option. Parnell most likely will never return to the modest success he enjoyed. The idea that he is considered some sort of lock down closer is a mystery to me.

    I play the hot hand there. Familia is doing the job right. It is his to lose. Parnell should not be considered the immediate replacement for closer. Once (if?) he reaches the capacity to pitch in relief at the big league level, I bring him in for the 7th and see how that goes. On my team, someday he might get back to the 9th, but only after working his way back up from lower leverage situations.

  • Mike Koehler

    Terry’s gotta say Familia is his guy to keep the man’s confidence up, but a healthy Parnell has to merit some serious consideration. Bobby was very good in 2013 and more than decent in the years prior.

  • Name

    Bobby Parnell is a free agent next year, and assuming we don’t want to resign him, he should be the closer to keep Familia’s price tag down.

    If we do wish to retain Bobby Parnell… well then that’s a lot more complicated. Chances are that we’d have a lot better shot at resigning if he were the closer, but if he did it well, then he’d also get more bucks. If he doesn’t pitch well as a closer or if he were relegated to setup, he’d probably bolt for another team next year with a team that had less closer candidates and an easier path for him to become the closer.

    There’s really no right or wrong decision.

    • Kev

      Yes, there is a clear answer- Familia is the closer until he shows he cannot do the job. No brainer.

      • Name

        There is a business side to baseball.

        • Kev

          Let me get this straight- Parnell automatically re-assumes the role he had 2 years ago because we can’t afford to lose him in the off season and/or we can’t pay Famila closer money in arbitration? Really?

          • Name

            No, he’s under reconsideration to reassume the closer role because it will keep Familia’s price tag down and/or because we may or not may wish to resign him.

            • Kev

              OK. I guess that makes sense. Do you agree that at this point, the job is Familia’s to lose?

              • Name

                If he’s pitching lights out, i don’t think TC would mess up the status quo.
                If Familia is pitching well, but not spectacular, (like a 3ish ERA), i would not rule out them making a switch.

  • Kev

    It is ridiculous to speculate this right now for a variety of reasons:
    1) We are winning
    2) Familia’s success is a contributing factor to this winning
    3) Parnell isn’t here, and is not doing particuarly well in rehab
    4) Parnell was hardly Mo Rivera when he was the closer here

    To just hand the job back to Parnell when/if he gets here just because he did a decent job 2 years and a Tommy John surgery ago or because we’re afraid we might hurt his feelings and lose him after the season if he isn’t anointed the closer is incredibly silly.

  • Reese

    Show me a single time Terry Collins has favored the younger player over the veteran…Parnell will get his shot closing games because that’s how the manager operates. (Bear in mind, this is the same manager with the career losing record operating that way, too.)

    • Kev

      I can’t cite pecedent, but there really shouldn’t be a discussion until Parnell is back AND if Familia is faltering. There are people who believe that Parnell gets the closer job back as soon as he rejoins the team?!?

      • Chris F

        Im with you Kev. I cant see any reason to just give Parnell the closer job. He is so far past the last time he was able to do anything and his recovery is clearly significantly lacking that it would be a dereliction of duty to just put him back.

        For clarity. Im no fan of Parnell and really never believed in him. I still dont.

  • pal88

    Why is this even being discussed?…. until Parnell can demonstrate that he’s back this is a mute point….have him earn the position.

  • Julian

    I really hope that Terry Collins makes the right decision to keep Familia in the closer role. That being said, Parnell could play a vital role in the bullpen as a set-up man- which is a role he thrived in before. This bullpen could be lethal.

    • Dan Kolton

      I wonder I’d TC even tries a closer by committee type situation with four possible closers in the pen

      • Kev

        Why would Terry consider this when Familia is doing the job extremely well? As I said before, this is a non-issue, especially if he and the team continue to do well.

  • aj

    this is a non issue familia is closer and should be till he proves other wise

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