The Jeurys Out: Familia Is Guilty of Being a Top Closer

The Mets have not had too many "lights out" closers since the dawn of the 21st century.  Armando Benitez is the only Mets closer with multiple 40-save seasons.  But he walked too many hitters and was a Mr. April type pitcher, meaning he was wonderful when games weren't critical but always seemed to allow a crushing hit or home run in September and October.  Similarly, Braden Looper was booed off the Shea Stadium mound several times in his two-year stretch as the team's closer, yet somehow ranks in the team's all-time top ten in saves despite allowing more hits than innings pitched in both of his seasons here.  And since Francisco Rodriguez punched his ticket (quite literally) out of Citi Field in 2011, a total of ten pitchers have filled in as closer for the Mets, including Jason Isringhausen, Manny Acosta, Jon Rauch, LaTroy Hawkins, Kyle Farnsworth and Jose Valverde.

Stability has never been a word associated with the closer position in Flushing in the past 15 seasons.  But after injuries and/or suspensions curtailed the ninth inning duties for both Bobby Parnell and Jenrry Mejia, a third homegrown pitcher was called upon to put on his closer shoes.  And this time, the Mets may have finally found the dependable closer they've been looking for all these years.

Jeurys Familia has been pumping his fist quite often during the season's first month.  (Getty Images)

After starting 111 games in parts of six minor league seasons, Jeurys Familia was thrust into the bullpen once he made it to the big show.  Familia only pitched 23 innings for the Mets in 2012 and 2013, but finally stayed with the team for good in 2014.  Since earning a full-time gig in the bullpen, Familia has been nothing short of spectacular, posting a 2.11 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 88 appearances.  He has also struck out nearly a batter per inning and allowed just 63 hits to the 365 batters he has faced.

Familia got some save opportunities here and there in 2014, racking up five saves in his first full season in the majors - a year that saw him finish seventh in the National League Rookie of the Year vote.  But once Mejia was suspended 80 games for a banned substance violation earlier this season, Familia became the team's full-time closer, and he has been as close to perfect as we've seen in Flushing in quite some time.

Through Saturday's game, Familia is a perfect 10-for-10 in save opportunities, leading all of baseball in that department.  He also became the first Met to rack up eight saves in an 11-game stretch and the first to record more than eight saves before the end of April.  But what's more impressive than the total number of saves is how he's getting those saves.  He's basically doing it without even working up a sweat.

Since coming into the game for his first save opportunity on April 12, Familia has appeared in ten games.  He retired every batter he faced in five of those ten appearances and allowed exactly one base runner in each of the other five.  Familia has faced a total of 35 batters in those ten relief outings, allowing just five of them to reach base - and one of them was later erased on a double play.

This isn't a new thing for Familia, who has been on top of his game since last June.  Familia appeared in 50 games after the calendar turned from May to June in 2014.  He faced the minimum number of hitters in almost half of those outings (23 in all) and allowed no more than one base runner in 34 of the 50 contests.  Compare those numbers to what Jenrry Mejia produced as the team's closer in 2014 (56 relief appearances; allowed multiple base runners in 28 of them and faced the minimum just 20 times) and it's clear that Familia's appearances have given Mets fans less stress than Mejia's outings ever did.

After years of suffering through less-than-dependable closers and going with the closer du jour, it looks as if the Mets have finally found what they were looking for in their ninth-inning pitcher.  Jeurys Familia throws strikes that aren't hit 400 feet.  He's also efficient (13.2 pitches per inning in 2015) and limits stress-inducing innings.

Through injuries (Parnell) and poor choices (Mejia), Familia has been given a chance to be the team's closer.  He's done nothing to make manager Terry Collins regret his decision.  And he's done everything to become one of the top closers in the game.  Not bad for a pitcher who was once being groomed to be a starter instead of one who has done quite a bit of finishing.

Fill In At Closer, Fill Out Your Pink Slip

A hug before leaving.  (Getty Images Photo)

After having an excellent season with the Mets in 2013, LaTroy Hawkins will be pitching elsewhere in 2014.  Hawkins, who finished the year as the Mets' closer after Bobby Parnell was sidelined with a season-ending injury, signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with the Colorado Rockies on Monday.

Never mind that Sandy Alderson said he wouldn't pay a 41-year-old reliever that kind of money, even though Hawkins gave the Mets his best statistical season since 2004, posting a 2.93 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 13 saves at the age of 40.  But if Hawkins was aware of recent Mets history, he should've known that he was about to become a goner.

In 2011, Francisco Rodriguez was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers during the All-Star Break.  After the trade, Jason Isringhausen became the Mets' closer, saving seven games - including his 300th career save.  The following season, he traded apples for oranges, leaving the Big Apple for Orange County.  Isringhausen pitched in 50 games for the Los Angeles Angels in 2012, but did not pitch in the majors in 2013.

One year before Isringhausen finished the year for K-Rod, another pitcher was forced into closer duties for the Mets when Francisco Rodriguez couldn't finish the year with the team.  After injuring himself when he became Frankie Knuckles in front of his son's grandfather, Hisanori Takahashi filled in as the team's closer, notching three wins and eight saves over the season's final two months.  The 35-year-old Takahashi was not re-signed by the Mets following his versatile "rookie" season in 2010.  Instead, he chose to sign with the Angels, spending a year and a half in Los Angeles, followed by short tenures in Pittsburgh and Chicago.

Billy Wagner began the final season at Shea Stadium as the Mets' closer.  But a season-ending injury forced Omar Minaya to acquire Luis Ayala in August 2008.  Ayala saved nine games as Wagner's temporary replacement.  And by temporary, I mean his two blown saves, two losses and 14.40 ERA over the season's final two weeks guaranteed he wouldn't be a Met in 2009.  Since then, Ayala has bounced around more than his pitches did in the left and right field corners of Shea Stadium in his six weeks with the team.  The right-hander has collected paychecks from the Twins, Marlins, Yankees, Orioles and Braves since he allowed the final run to cross the plate at Shea Stadium on a back-breaking blast by Dan Uggla on September 28, 2008.

When Braden Looper was in the final days of the two-year contract he signed with the Mets prior to the 2004 season, he required season-ending surgery to repair a blown AC joint in his right shoulder.  In stepped Roberto Hernandez, who picked up two wins and three saves over the final two weeks of the 2005 campaign.  But the Mets allowed Hernandez to leave as a free agent, and the 40-year-old reliever inked a one-year deal to pitch for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2006.  Hernandez was traded back to the Mets (along with Oliver Perez) when Duaner Sanchez had a case of the munchies and got into the wrong taxi cab in Miami, but Hernandez did not record another save as a Met.

Roberto Hernandez should've pitched in this game instead of Braden Looper.

LaTroy Hawkins had a wonderful season for the Mets in 2013.  After becoming the team's closer on August 6, Hawkins pitched in 23 games and was 13-for-14 in save attempts.  Hawkins had pinpoint control as the team's closer, striking out 18 batters and walking only one in 22⅓ innings.  Opposing hitters had a .229 on-base percentage and a miniscule .272 slugging percentage against Hawkins, collecting just two extra-base hits in 81 at-bats.

Usually, those numbers are what you'd expect from a young, stud closer.  Someone like Craig Kimbrel.  In fact, going back to August 6 - the day Hawkins became the Mets' fill-in closer for the injured Bobby Parnell, Kimbrel went 16-for-17 in save opportunities with 31 strikeouts and five walks in 23⅔ innings, allowing a .211 on-base percentage and .224 slugging percentage (three extra-base hits in 85 at-bats).  Those numbers weren't that much better than what Hawkins did as the Mets' closer.  But because Hawkins is going to be 41 next month, he's not worth $2.5 million for one year, according to Sandy Alderson.

Perhaps Alderson should have given Hawkins another chance to be one of the team's top relievers in 2014, just like he was in 2013.  But Alderson must know about the team's recent history.  He surely has to know how relievers who fill in as temporary closers for the Mets never stick around with the team.  And who is Sandy Alderson to mess with tradition, right?  

Goodbye and thanks for playing, LaTroy Hawkins.  You should have been given another chance next year.  Instead, you're just in the same class as Roberto Hernandez, Luis Ayala, Hisanori Takahashi and Jason Isringhausen.  That's some consolation prize.