Jeurys Familia’s electricity – which had so many excited and clamoring for him to eventually transition into the team’s closer – was largely absent during spring training last month.
It appeared Familia’s velocity was inconsistent at best, the life on his fastball was nonexistent, and he got battered more often than not to the tune of 15 hits allowed in only 8 2/3 spring training innings.
But as it’s been learned time and time again, stats – and often a pitcher’s stuff – in spring training are largely irrelevant.
On Monday, Familia’s 2015 story officially begun with a flawless inning of work with two strikeouts in the eighth inning in the club’s 3-1 Opening Day win over the Nationals.
However, it was more than flawless. It bordered on ridiculous in terms of what he put on display. And, it couldn’t come at a better time for him or the club.
Familia was filthy as he breezed through a scoreless eighth inning. He featured his patented hard fastball down in the zone and his disappearing slider returned just in time for the regular season.
Familia threw each of his fastballs in excess of 97 mph, something he just wasn’t doing consistently in camp. He also threw four sliders – the Nationals swung and missed at all four.
And with that, the Mets and the onlookers took a big sigh of relief.
But Familia’s eighth inning show had more significance for the team than a simple display of excellence and dominance in one outing.
With Jenrry Mejia suddenly facing uncertainty with his right elbow, Familia will be promoted to the closer role. The Mets need shutdown stuff in the ninth inning and thankfully, they may once again have it with Familia and his arsenal.
“I know I can do a good job,” Familia told Mike Puma of the New York Post over the weekend. “I can get hitters out and we’ll see what happens.”
Just Mets 