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Soothsaying for Sixteen: Jeurys Familia

Edgy MD Mar 24 2016 01:36 PM

I am your homegrown closer. Thanks to my bearded friend getting broke and my hairy friend getting banned, sadly, but that's the way it is. I got a slider that slides and fastball that's fast, and suddenly, a splitter that splits. And Familia and Parnell out of the picture. Folks think I have to redeem myself because of three blown saves in the World Series. That's mush is what it is. The Mets have a two-run lead, and Terry Collins decides to go with me for the ninth. Matt Harvey talks him out of it, and I end up coming in after all, but not until Harvey has left me a runner on second, no out, and one run home. YOU tell ME who blew that game. Bitter? Bitter is for lemons. And arugala. And certain blends of coffee. But me? As unfair as that tag is, I'm not bitter about it. If anything, I'm bitter about no more post-game hugs from Anthony Recker. That's going to be a hole in my life. What else is in store? It's hard to say. Things have unfolded in a such a surprising manner already. Maybe you know more than me. Enlighten me. Oh, Anthony...

John Cougar Lunchbucket Mar 24 2016 02:01 PM Re: Soothsaying for Sixteen: Jeurys Familia

I'll tellya. Terry leaned on him really hard near the end of the year. Erik Goeddel's bad 8th inning in Game 3 of the Dodgers series put a fear in me that was borne out. I say Juerys gets 40 saves and 2.21 ERA this year, a couple bad stretches but gets the job done.

d'Kong76 Mar 25 2016 02:00 AM Re: Soothsaying for Sixteen: Jeurys Familia

[fimg=100:1xkdws2r]http://www.rolaids.com/images/rolls/1roll_ES_mint.jpg[/fimg:1xkdws2r] Man of the Year, if they still did that!

MFS62 Mar 25 2016 02:06 PM Re: Soothsaying for Sixteen: Jeurys Familia

All it will take is a strong outing against KC in one (or both) of the two season opening games to restore his confidence. He will get them, and go on to a monster year as the best closer in the NL. The only bad thing is that the Mets will have so many games in which they have a huge lead that he won't have as many save opportunities as some other closers. Who cares? He'll know he's the best. We'll know he's the best. That's all that counts. Later

Vic Sage Mar 25 2016 03:36 PM Re: Soothsaying for Sixteen: Jeurys Familia

he loses the plate and reverts to his minor league career control issues. Ends up in a closer-by-committee situation with Reed and Bastardo, and when Reed blows up, they end up having to release Addison and Robles steps up and becomes our next "lock down closer". until next year, of course, when this happens all over again. 65 IP / 1-5 / 3.5 era / 1.35 whip / 18 saves

Zvon Mar 26 2016 11:34 PM Re: Soothsaying for Sixteen: Jeurys Familia

I feel so much hinges on Familia progressing in the right direction. I love that his WS blown games have not become magnified or a bad rallying point for fans, and how he really seems to have put them behind him. I'm not too concerned over his spring. But we do need him to at least be what he was last year during the season. The consistency he brought cannot be overestimated. I'll tell you what I want him to do: Break Benitez record for saves. 45 saves, 2.22 ERA

batmagadanleadoff Apr 09 2016 05:37 PM Re: Soothsaying for Sixteen: Jeurys Familia

Here's Familia's Baseball Prospectus write-up in the 2015 annual, released at the start of last season. I'd say it was pretty prescient. Familia's two-seamer is --unhittable-- 97 with decent arm-side movement, and the control is good enough to make it all work. His four-seam data shows some of that same movement, suggesting many of his supposed four-seamers are just failed sinkers. The end product is about three sinkers for every slider. Now, consider this: On 0-0 counts, Familia threw up to 266 (85%) fastballs in 2014. Of those, 128 were strikes, and of those, just seven were hit for line drives or fly balls. Not only can big leaguers not hit what they already know is coming, but Familia's fastball hasn't even reached its ceiling; it's easy to imagine a grade jump in control still. In a perfect world, Familia and Jenrry Mejia become a media sensation, a sort of Dominican Bash Brothers. But you know what happens when the Mets try to market themselves. BONUS MATERIAL -- Here's Mejia's write-up: You probably heard about Mejia for his "excessive" postgame celebrations -- a laughable controversy in which the media seemed to care for more than the players themselves -- but his real story of 2014 was one of self-discovery and heartwarming deliverance. After injury upon injury, role reversals and re-reversals, Mejia flourished as a closer when Bobby Parnell went down and Jose Valverde was Jose Vaslverde. Although his curve and slider are functionally very similar, a four-pitch offering (with no four-seam fastball) is odd for a closer and difficult to square up in a single at-bat. Mejia had taken his lumps and succeeded in spite of it; you can't blame the guy for doing a little dance. I'd say Mejia wasn't done with the "reversals".