Nine of the top 30 relievers on the all-time saves list have pitched for the Mets, including five of the top 12. The Mets have also had Tug McGraw, Jesse Orosco and Ron Taylor pitch out of their bullpen. But when it’s all said and done, all of us reading this now will be able to say we saw the best reliever in team history. While he’s been in the role for less than a year and a half, Jeurys Familia has announced his presence with authority and has set himself up to be a dominant reliever for a long time.
They say that great closers are made, not born, and Familia is no exception to this rule. He started out as a top prospect as a starter, reaching number three on our top 10 prospect list in 2012. But even then, he was tabbed as a potential future closer. That year at Triple-A Buffalo, Familia led the team with 137 IP. He also had the highest ERA among the four pitchers to log 100 innings for the club, notching a 4.73 mark.
Familia’s big fastball got him to Triple-A but his lack of strong offspeed pitches kept him from being a success there. Still, he made his major league debut that year, appearing in eight games. He even made a start for the Mets, pitching four scoreless innings in Game 160 against the Marlins. It would be the only start in his MLB career.
The next year was a lost one for Familia. He made the Opening Day roster but was quickly sent to the minors so that the organization could enjoy its latest lefty fetish – the wonderful Aaron Laffey. He returned to the Mets but soon found himself on the DL with elbow troubles. Famiiia eventually underwent arthroscopic surgery on his elbow, which cost him most of the year. He did return to the majors in mid-September.
In 2014, Familia established himself as the team’s eighth inning man, proving a reliable set-up option for new closer Jenrry Mejia. He had a 2.21 ERA and a 1.177 WHIP, numbers which helped Familia finish tied for seventh with teammate Travis d’Arnaud in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting.
But as encouraging as that season was, it was not without some troubling notes. While he had a sparkling ERA, his peripherals painted a different story. Familia’s slightly elevated LOB% combined with a 5.2 HR/FB rate led to a 3.49 xFIP. More importantly, Familia still had two issues. He still gave up too many walks (3.72 BB/9) and while he had great success versus RHB, lefties gave him fits, as they batted .293 with an .821 OPS against him that season.
Still, he was counted on for a key role in the bullpen at the start of 2015, one that quickly elevated into him being the top dog once Mejia’s troubles came to light. And his two biggest issues seemingly disappeared overnight, allowing him to blossom into a dominating closer.
Familia cut his walk rate in 2015 to a very strong 2.19 rate. And lefties were held to a .616 OPS.
So, how did he do it? Most pitchers like to throw a changeup to hitters when they don’t have the platoon advantage, as the change typically moves away from those batters. But Familia did not possess a good change. Over 99% of his pitches to LHB in 2014 were either sinkers (57% of the time), four-seam fastballs (30.3%) or sliders (12%), according to Texas Leaguers.
But in 2015, Familia added a splitter to his repertoire and significantly cut down his four-seam fastball usage to lefties, making it his fourth-used pitch at 8.4% of the time. And the results were dramatic. The splitter gave him another swing-and-miss pitch, along with his slider, and lefties went from 19 Ks in 153 PA in 2014 to 34 Ks in 142 PA in 2015.
In his first year as a closer, Familia tied the team record for Saves with 43. This year he already has 14 Saves and according to ESPN, he’s on pace to finish the year with 54. More importantly, he’s still performing well in the two areas that plagued him earlier in his career. So far in 2016, Familia has a 1.77 BB/9 mark and lefties have just a .561 OPS against him after 21 games.
Armando Benitez was the most overpowering reliever the Mets ever had, with an 11.8 K/9 rate in his time with the Mets. But he had a reputation for not coming through in the big games and most fans do not remember his tenure with the club fondly. John Franco has the most Saves in club history with 246. But while most fans loved Franco the person, with his New York ties and penchant for wearing his heart on his sleeve, his style of pitching, where he constantly seemed to be nibbling, did not win him a slew of admirers.
McGraw and Orosco hold special places in team history for their roles in pennant and World Series teams. Familia doesn’t quite have that yet, his homer to Alex Gordon and Terry Collins’ sub-optimal usage of him sullying his first pennant performance.
But the key word there is “yet.” At age 26, Familia seems likely to get another crack at the postseason with the Mets. He appears to be well-liked by both the team and fans and his dominance will land him on the All-Star team this year. The future seems wide open for both Familia and the Mets and we are witnessing a terrific pitcher on a daily basis.
A generation from now, you’ll be telling your kids or your grandkids that you saw Familia develop into a star right before your eyes. It’s great to have stories like that.
It’s been fantastic to watch Familia rise to stardom. He’s one of the first Mets prospects that I followed really closely throughout their minor league career (and went out of my way to see play in minors games). Hope to see him break the franchise save record this year.
Of all the Mets Closers, Familia may have quickly established himself as The Nastiest At Bat—– The Mid 90’s Split and Sink…the 97-98 Running Fastball….. The occasional slider and Curve….it’s a Brutal Selection
BTW—- Im always surprisd at the lack of Bunting against him…for hits or sacs…. he’s a brutal Fielder— and an especially bad thrower as a fielder
He proved today he can throw underhand to first base.
Many accolades for Familia, but several thoughts stand out. First, he credited Colon and Hawkins for nurturing him when he first came up. Colon as a fellow Dominican got him used to the show. Hawkins worked with him in the mentality of a reliever and to trust his stuff. Familia used to nibble and a few early homers got him spooked. Second, Familia and Domingo Tapia were the big arms in the organization that were expected to be big time relievers. But while Tapia is recovering from TJ surgery at 27 and battling wildness, Familia has been able to master his craft. Lastly, Familia has the size and arm to maintain. He looks like Lee Smith out there and we all hope he can be our “Mariano Rivera” type closer, meaning one of the best ever.
What’s the average life of a closer? My guess is that it’s probably under 4 years, although many closers do get booted out of the role and reappear again as closer. Familia is in year 2 of being a closer, so let’s not get out of hand with these statements, although greatest Met closer isn’t that high of a standard to begin with
I mean, his closest comp on baseball ref’s similarity score is Cody Allen. Who? Is anyone calling him the next Mariano? Cody Allen, Indians closer for the past 2.5 years. Probably not a name that someone has heard unless they play Fantasy Baseball or follow the Indians. You could make an argument he’s more dominant than Familia, but Familia has the better reputation because he’s had the opportunity to play on the big show while Allen hasn’t.
The average life of any position is not going to be very long. There’s always guys who only serve as a “starter” for a position for a year or two. How many RF did the Mets have in the 20 years before Granderson?
Edit: Content
My reference to average life was actually referring to time spent on any team. I guess a way this could be done would be to query the number of closers with 10+ saves over the past 15 years and divide that by the number of teams per year to get a rough average.
In some ways, it’s not fair to compare closers to position players. As a hitter there are 8 open spots (though realistically the limit is 2 or 3) per team, so you can be the 8th best hitter on a team and still play everyday. Whereas you need to be the top reliever continually (or making big bucks) in order to stick as the closer.
I just ran that query and i got 212 relievers with 15+ saves from 2000-2015.
That means roughly, a reliever lasted 2.25 seasons as closer.
If i drop the requirement down to 10 saves, then the average life is about 1.9 years.
Let’s look at it another way:
Using the years 2014 & 2015 there were 15 relievers who had 20 saves in both years:
Uehara, Street, Rosenthal, Rondon, K-Rod, Robertson, Perkins, Papelbon, Melancon, Kimbrel, Jansen, Holland, Chapman, Britton and Allen
Using the same years, there were 8 RF who had 500 PA in both years:
Markakis, Hunter, Heyward, Granderson, Calhoun, Bruce, Braun and Bautista
Using the same years, there were 14 3B who had 500 PA in both years:
Solarte, Seager, Sandoval, Ramirez, Prado, Plouffe, Moustakas, Longoria, Headley, Frazier, Donaldson, Castellanos, Carpenter, Beltre
In a short time frame, closers are in the same ballpark as other position players.
Let’s look at a longer time frame.
Here are the closers who had 20 saves at least four times from 2010-2015:
Street, Soriano, K-Rod, Perez, Papelbon, Kimbrel, Jansen, Chapman and Axford (9)
Here are the 3B with 500 PA at least four times from 2010-2015:
Seager, Sandoval, Ramirez, Moustakas, Longoria, Headley, Callaspo and Beltre (8)
Here are the RF:
Werth, Suzuki, Stanton, Pence, Markakis, Hunter, Heyward, Bruce, Beltran and Bautista (10)
And for an even longer look –
Here are the closers from 2006-2015 who got 20 saves in at least six seasons:
Valverde, Street, K-Rod, Rivera, Papelbon, Nathan and Gregg (7)
Here are the RF with 500 PA in at least six seasons:
Suzuki, Rios, Pence, Markakis, Francoeur, Ethier and Bruce (7)
Here are the 3B:
Zimmermann, Wright, A-Rod, Ramirez, Longoria and Beltre (6)
Sure, hitters can move to another position and no doubt more guys reach the PA threshold if we count multiple positions. But that doesn’t seem fair to the relievers, who generally don’t have the chance to make a similar impact in a non-closer role. But if we were to use Games instead of Saves, you would pick up extra relievers, too. Guys who were set-up men part of the time and closers the rest. Guys like Clippard (69 games six straight years) or Soria or Putz.
Bottom line – the elite closers can put up multiple years at a rate in the same ballpark as other positions.
Forgot abiut Aaron Laffey!