Just Mets

In a way, the Mets have two true aces on their pitching staff.

There’s Matt Harvey, who is undeniably the ace of the Mets rotation, and once again he along with Max Scherzer are quite possibly the best pitchers in baseball right now.

But while Harvey might be the Ace of Hearts for the Mets, they have an Ace of Spades at the very other end of their bullpen.

His name is Jeurys Familia. He is the Mets closer who wasn’t heading into Opening Day, but suddenly finds himself among the dominant stoppers in baseball right now.

Just last night, Terry Collins summoned his spade to record a five out save in a game the Mets not only badly needed to win, they needed to establish themselves against a foe they simply had not beaten very much in front of the home crowd – they were losers of 15 of their last 16 games against the Nationals at Citi Field.

Familia not only answered his managers call, he stunted the Nationals.

“He said, ‘Boy, confidence is an unbelievable thing,’” Collins said about Familia after Friday’s win. “[Familia] went out there today knowing we had to get big outs, and he got big outs.”

Familia struck out two of the five batters he faced, throwing 16 of his 19 pitches for strikes. He recorded his tenth save of the year – that leads the league.

“I put a lot of pressure on myself trying to do everything perfect,” Familia said after the game. “Right now, I’m just going out there, and if I make a mistake, then I get the next hitter.”

Right now, Familia isn’t making mistakes.

His fastball velocity was tremendous last night. He nearly tipped 100 mph and was keeping that ball down around the knees with good downward trajectory. But it was his slider, which could very well be one of the most unhittable pitches in baseball right now.

The Nationals certainly didn’t hit it – they swung and missed four of the eight sliders he threw, seven of which were strikes. He’s thrown 46 sliders this season – the opposition has swung and missed at 15 of them this season, throwing it for a strike 56 percent of the time.

He was clearly extra amped, obviously knowing the importance of sealing a win against a team they’ll probably be fighting with down the stretch of the season, and perhaps October if they make it that far.

“[Familia has] got unbelievable stuff,” Michael Cuddyer said. “Filthy stuff but throws strikes. Just like our starters. It’s amazing the stuff that these guys have, and Familia is right there with it. But to be able to pound the strike zone with it is impressive. He’s special.”

Remember when everyone was worried (including myself) about Familia in Spring Training. So much for meaningless performances.

He’s been beyond tremendous since taking of for Jenrry Mejia. And, to be able to do it without preparing or even knowing he was going to be thrusted into this role makes his performance that much more remarkable.

It’s early, but there’s no question if this continues, Familia is going to find himself in Cincinnati in mid-July.

Short of experience and a long track record, there’s probably not much separating Familia from Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller, David Robertson and Craig Kimbrel as the dominant relievers in this league.

But no matter how he’s ranked among his peers in the league, he’s an equalizer in the Mets bullpen, and unquestionably Collins’ most trusted resource in the late innings.

And, he has delivered every time to date…