When Jenrry Mejia was placed on the disabled list earlier this week, Terry Collins said it wasn’t necessarily certain Jeurys Familia would be deemed the closer, either on an interim or full-time basis.
Collins said he could use some of his excess left-handed relief in certain ninth inning situations, depending on the match-up.
However, after Thursday’s 6-3 win over the Nationals, Terry Collins said it was important Familia gets used to pitching in the ninth inning regardless of the situation.
“He has to get used to being out there in the ninth inning, and I said, ‘I don’t care what the score is, he’s got to pitch the ninth,’ ” Collins explained.
Familia entered the ninth inning on Thursday with a four-run lead, a non-save situation.
I recall Collins saying during spring training it would be most helpful for his pitchers to know their role in the bullpen. Yes, there’s been a lot of flux in the bullpen since Josh Edgin went down and they acquired Jerry Blevins and Alex Torres. But Familia could benefit from knowing exactly what his job is, even if it’s temporary. It could also help the Mets evaluate his ability in the role they envision him being in, be it as a closer or a setup guy.
Ultimately, I’d like the Mets to look at him as a full-time closer. This is a perfect opportunity with Mejia down and both Vic Black and Bobby Parnell still not back from the disabled list.
He’s as good a candidate as any who is available and on the roster, so why not?
Just Mets 