Adopted: Jeurys Familia

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

DL'd, retroactive to July 14, with a shoulder impingement (or "tendinitis," if you prefer).

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Told ya Wally was full of shit.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

GOOD NEWS: No longer impinged, in shoulder or anywhere else! Activated last night to start against the Altoona Curve!

BAD NEWS: His start last night against the Altoona Curve (1 2/3 IP, 4 K, 2 BB, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 wild pitches).

To be fair, the velocity was where it should be (sitting mid-90s, flashing 97 a few times), and, well... he's rustier than a Staub scion, having only thrown one partial bullpen by way of rehab.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Wally loves Harvey and Hyoorees:

�They can both be quality starters on a championship-caliber club,� Backman said. �They�re both No.2, maybe No.3 type starters, and I�m telling you, they�re for real. I wouldn�t say it if I wasn�t sure about them. �They�re pretty much electric. They both have mid-90s fastballs � Familia has a little more velocity. They both have those great curveballs, and they�re both working on their changeups. Harvey could have won in the big leagues the way he pitched in his last start. It�s just a matter of becoming more consistent.�

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

BAD NEWS: Still not much good in his second start, post-DL stint (4 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2 HR).

GOOD NEWS: Still no impingin'! Woot!

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

GOOD NEWS: Impingement? Still a distant memory!

MORE RECENT GOOD NEWS: 5 IP (pulled early due to an approaching innings-limit for the year), just 2 singles allowed, 7 K, 0 BB in a 7-0 win over Richmond.

Between A+ and AA, for the year: 4-4, 103 IP, 2.97 ERA, 113 K, 35 BB, 86 H, 10 HR allowed on the year.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

From Saturday...
[youtube:x61t0ayz]iItnQ_YpnrY[/youtube:x61t0ayz]

That's-a my boy.

[Edgy MD]

That breaking pitch seems like a hybrid. It's slider speed, but has something of a curve's drop.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

The good* kind of "slurve."

*And by "good," I mean, "so filthy, Mormon parents have software to filter it out of their TV feeds."

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

The last four starts go... not exactly superfantastically, not exactly terribly. (Ending on just a note?)

1-1
21 IP
20 H
8 BB
19 K
9 R
6 ER
1 HR allowed
2.57 ERA
1.33 WHIP
2.38 K/BB ratio

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

The year in review (About 1/4 PSL and 3/4 Binghamton):

23 GS
124 IP
9.6 K/9
3.1 BB/9
3.07 K/BB
11 HR allowed
2.90 ERA
1.20 WHIP
5-5 W-L record
1 promotion to Top-5-prospects-in-organization status

Not bad for his Age-21 year. Assuming no setbacks for our Hyee-ro, expect a cameo in September.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Project Prospect's Adam Foster (via Toby Hyde) doesn't see a starter here.

[Edgy MD]

His motion reminds me of Neil Allen's.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Up and down so far this season (5.30 ERA/1.82 WHIP with 23 Ks in 18-plus frames... but a K/BB ratio barely over 1, over 4 starts), but the last one-- a 4-hit, 1-run, 8-K performance at Syracuse-- was a beaut. It's just two starts, but he's been nose-wrinkling-awful at home so far (2 starts, 9.00 ERA with a walk per inning).

To be fair, he was working on his mechanics QUITE a bit with Ricky Bones in ST, so... perhaps this is in-game-fine-tuning in progress.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Ended his month with a 3-inning, 7-walk start. He's just having real trouble with the delivery refinements/fastball command.

As Toby Hyde puts it:

... Familia is just not throwing enough strikes. In 21.2 innings in 2012, he has issued 22 walks. For the year, he has thrown 56% of his pitches (261 of 463) for strikes where MLB average is 62%. Primarily, this is about locating his fastball. The Mets were working hard with Familia in spring training to repeat a cleaner delivery to improve his command. Obviously, the lessons have not taken yet.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

After a relatively solid start May 3rd against Syracuse (5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 K/3 BB), Jeurys pitched his finest AAA game so far at the Gwinnett Braves (6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 6 K/2 BB). He's at 4.41 ERA-wise, 1.74 WHIP-wise, and puttering along with 35 K/27 BB. But with improved command, all those numbers are apparently headed in the right direction (if at senior-driver speed).

Bisons pitching coach Mark Brewer offers his thoughts on Familia's progress/what exactly Jeurys is working on during yesterday's Buffalo pregame:

"I expect him to be more of a bulldog tonight versus backing off every once in a while. He's a young kid who has been pushed up through the levels. And I don't mean that in a negative way. He's earned it, for sure. And the organization believes he can produce at this level and play at this level. But he needs to take the bull by the horns and be more aggressive versus trying to be so fine. He's got a 93 to a 96 mph fastball. And it's hard to catch up to that son of a gun when you throw it up there. "Basically, what we see when he's not right is he lifts his leg and he gets out too quick and he's playing catchup. And he can't command the fastball. And what we're trying to do is get him to post, and just get up to the top of the delivery -- get his hands separated -- so once he hits that front side he can explode and he can trust his momentum more once he gets to that position. "That 93 to 96 mph plays if you can command it, for sure. ... So what we're trying to do is to get him to gain feel of, when he does want movement, to start it on a competitive part of the plate so that it ends on a competitive spot, just off or still on."

[Edgy MD]

Good for Familia and good for Harvey, but I'm going to guess Gwinnett isn't the class of the International League.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Au contraire-- they're the chiefs of the Southern Division, at 19-11 heading into this series.

Edited May 10, 2012 by Guest

[Edgy MD]

Well, if that's not a temporary illusion, then I'm going to have to accept that our players are awesome, through and through.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Our hero made a second straight strong start, this time at Charlotte (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 7 K/3 BB). He's 3-0 over the past 5 starts with a 2.63 ERA (24IP, 20H, 7ER, 27K/18BB).


.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Some regression over his last two starts in May (5 2/3 IP, 10 H allowed, 4 K/4 BB, 7 ER), followed by a bounce-back pair of away starts at Toledo and Columbus (11 2/3 IP, 9 H allowed, 10 K/3 BB, 3 ER). The K/BB rate is climbing, little by little... but he's still walking over 6 batters per 9.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

BB/9 is down to 5.3 over the last 10 starts (um, yay?), but the ERA's climbing, and so are his baserunners allowed. He's just not throwing strikes, and there's talk of a demotion-- "to work things out"-- to Binghamton.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Perhaps someone's a little jealous about all the Harvey/Wheeler heat?

Familia follows the rumbling about a demotion by reeling off three straight rock-solid starts, culminating in a sparkling 8-inning, 9 K bee-yoot against Toledo (1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB allowed). Over those three starts, he's thrown 20 2/3 innings, allowed 16 baserunners, struck out 20, and walked just 4. Opponents are batting .178 against him, and he's thrown 67% of his pitches for strikes over this period.

Some video, courtesy of Matt Cerrone and Mets Minor League Report.

[Frayed Knot]

BA gives him some love on this week's 'Hot List'


Team: Triple-A Buffalo (International)
Age: 22
Why He's Here: 1-0, 0.63, 2 GS, 14 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 15 Ks.
The Scoop: The same week that rumors were floating around that Matt Harvey could be called up to make a July 21 start, Familia reminded everyone that he could help out the big league club as well. Control has been Familia's biggest problem this season (and through much of his career), as he struggled to smooth out his delivery in spring training, but in recent weeks he looks much more like the Familia who excelled in 2011. Pitching with increased tempo, he has walked seven in 24 innings in July after walking 49 in 71 innings before this month. Familia may end up helping the Mets more in the bullpen than in the rotation, but the stuff is pretty impressive.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Two steps forward, two steps back: our hyee-ro followed the above hot stretch by allowing 5+ER in each of three straight, sub-5-inning starts... then posting four half-decent ones.

He's put up a 4.09 ERA/1.38 WHIP-- with an improved 2.6-to-1 K/BB ratio-- over 55 IP in his last 10 starts, bringing his season totals to 4.78 ERA/1.61 WHIP... with a still-unsightly walk rate over 5-per-9 IP.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Finished with a mixed bag in the last two starts-- 8 ER in 13 innings... but a 16-to-1 K/BB ratio.

Final minor-league numbers on the year: 28 starts, 137 IP, 4.73 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 9-9 record, 128 K/73 BB.

BUT, BUT, BUT...

FA-MI-LIA! CALLED UP IN SEPTEMBER!
FA-MI-LIA! HIS MAMA WILL REMEMBER!
FA-MI-LIA! NO ONE CAN PRONOUNCE YOUR NA-AAAAAAAME

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Got his tie snipped-- including one wild-ass start-- and looked pretty good when he wasn't walking the park or getting shelled by the Phils.

Reports hint that he'll work as a reliever in ST... though at least one measure suggests he might still be better suited for the rotation.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I love this guy. I wanna make him a starter, and the closer, and the 8th Inning Guy.

[Edgy MD]

He should be the second lefty out of the pen too.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Working out of the pen, indeed. (At least to start.) Still #27 in your program.