Justin Wilson and Jeurys Familia are holding their own

The Mets have enjoyed success from two of their offseason acquisitions of late. Both Justin Wilson and Jeurys Familia are holding their own when summoned into the game. After an abysmal four months of the season, the month of August has been kind to the Mets relievers and the returns have been bountiful. Their success has been especially important as their peer Edwin Diaz struggles to find his groove and is listed as Day to Day. If the Mets are going to make a run into the playoffs, they will need to continue to rely on the arms of both Wilson and Familia.

There’s no doubt that Wilson and Familia had less than favorable results for a majority of the season. However Wilson’s injury and Familia’s ‘stuff’ left room for improvement. When the team needed to come together the most, these two members of a fragile bullpen answered the call. Since July 31st, Justin Wilson owns a 12.6 K/9 and 0.84 ERA over 10.2 innings. Since August 5th, Familia has pitched with an 11.6 K/9 and 1.93 ERA over 9.1 innings.

The left-handed Wilson has worked his way from an elbow injury which was initially considered a mild concern. After missing about two months of baseball, he made a reappearance in July and has yet to look back. Wilson sported a 3.06 ERA and 7.6 K/9 prior to July 31st which shows a huge improvement since that time. Of note is that Wilson has faced 17 left handed batters during this recent stretch and given up five hits and four walks (good for a .471 OBP).

While Familia’s season ERA sits at 6.02, he has already seen that mark come down by 1.70 points in just one month. If he continues at this rate then he can come down to 4.30 which would be a respectable improvement. Notably, his BABIP after August 5th is .200 vs a .358 rate prior to that date. It’s clear that he is benefitting from some good luck which is a refreshing change of pace for the Mets.

Rosters will expand in the coming week which will give Mickey Callaway more options. This could be a detriment to the club as the Mets would benefit from getting outs from their proven arms, including Seth Lugo. Wilson has 1 year and $5 million left on his contract while Familia has 2 years and $27.5 million left on this contract due to the back loaded nature of the deal. While these deals will likely be looked at with disgust by fans in the future, there is a carrot growing in the form of this 2019 stretch. If Familia and WIlson can continue to hold their own, while the rest of the team performs, then they will be looked at as key cogs in the playoff machine.