The Edge of Seventeen: Jeurys Familia

[Edgy MD]

I'm the Mets closer. And I'm a good one. A really good one. I almost have too many good pitches to waste on a closer.

But that's sort of a blessing and a curse. I sometimes get in my own way trying to figure out which pitch to go for. Sometimes. I mean, the 50-Save Club. There's only like 13 of us or so.

But I've been imperfect in the post season, and there are already dopes out there calling me the New Armando. And I guess until I close out a World Series clincher, that's the way people are going to be. Is that the way it's going to go down in 2017? I don't know. I'm asking you.

[fimg=351:2ctqp1a9]http://metsmerizedonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/USATSI_8575249_154511658_lowres-e1433028317101.jpg?x22250[/fimg:2ctqp1a9] [fimg=349:2ctqp1a9]http://a.espncdn.com/photo/2016/1005/r136751_600x400_3-2.jpg[/fimg:2ctqp1a9]
[fimg=321:2ctqp1a9]http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2867702.1478798805!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_750/familia11n-5-web.jpg[/fimg:2ctqp1a9] [fimg=379:2ctqp1a9]http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/content/wabc/images/cms/1584047_1280x720.jpg[/fimg:2ctqp1a9]

[MFS62]

41 saves, 2.23 ERA after his (hopefully only) 30 game suspension.
Later

[Ceetar]

Seems inevitable he gets a suspension, so, shorter season which means his yearly dead-arm ineffective period will be a larger %, but roughly the same year otherwise.

62IP, 9.8 K/9 3.1 BB/9, 2.33 ERA, 2 fWAR

some counting stats. I dunno, I mean, Reed is better and should remain the closer but probably won't. I'll say 33 saves.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'm a little down on Familia, inasmuch as the incident indicated he drinks too much, and because his weight, walks and ERA were all slightly up last year, his whiffs down a little.

Let's go with 2-4, 2.75, 48 games, 52.1 innings, 29 saves, homers up a bit, k/bb rates about the same, a little more angst than usual.

[Guest cooby]

Tells us how to say his name but none of us can remember

[batmagadanleadoff]

Here's Familia's write-up from Baseball Prospectus' 2016 Annual, published just before the start of the 2016 season:

Familia's pitching philosophy seems to be to throw whatever he wants, knowing that no one can hit it, and thereby try to throw three strikes before ball four. He works almost exclusively front-to-back, establishing the sinker early in the count before moving it up, with the only wrinkle being a penchant for quick pitching, which he learned from LaTroy Hawkins in 2013. In 2014, left-handed hitters reached base at a .377 clip; in 2015, that number went down to .291 largely because of his big revelation, a reliable splitter that gave lefties a different look that the slider wasn't providing. Familia posted three blown saves in the World Series, and you won't find a more misleading statistic in this book. The man did everything to deliver a championship but keep Jenrry Mejia clean.

[Edgy MD]

That's something like my assessment. He has the pitches, but the sequences make no sense. And with every pitch a potential out pitch, he's not using one to set up another. It almost seems selfish to suggest he could be better, but the few holes he has found himself in seem to be created by irrational pitch sequences ... which, to be fair, can certainly be a good thing too.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Best NL closer in 2017; wishing they still had the Rolaids Award.

[seawolf17]

cooby wrote: Tells us how to say his name but none of us can remember

Fa-MEEL-ya.

27 saves in the second half, re-creates Jesse O's glove throw in the clincher.

[Guest cooby]

First name