Jeurys Familia Has Held New York Mets' Bullpen Together

The New York Mets’ bullpen has looked nothing like it was supposed to look this season. Heading into the season, fans were envisioning a potentially dominant bullpen filled with a slew of high-end relievers, all capable of being a closer at the major league level. But that has not been the case, as Vic Black suffered an injury during spring training and has yet to appear in the majors this year, Jenrry Mejia was issued a 50-game suspension and Bobby Parnell has been slow to come back from Tommy John surgery. That leaves Jeurys Familia as the only member of the Mets’ core-four who has pitched this season, and he has managed to, almost single-handedly, hold the bullpen together.

With Mejia, Parnell and Black all out of the picture, Familia was forced into closer’s role for the first time in his career. But it’s a role in which he has excelled. Familia has converted 16-of-17 save opportunities this season and is a huge reason why the Mets have not lost a game all season when leading after eight innings. He’s even completed saves of more than three outs on multiple occasions, ensuring that the Mets don’t waste quality starts from the rotation with the offense sputtering.

Familia has taken his performance to a whole new level this season, by far surpassing what he did during a breakout season last year. With so many pitchers missing from the Mets’ bullpen, they have needed others to step up, and Familia has answered the call. He’s done more than the Mets could have ever hoped and been an integral part of the team’s success this year.

At some point, the Mets hope to get Mejia, Parnell and Black into their bullpen. At the very least, one or two of them should be back at some point, with more key relievers like Jerry Blevins and Buddy Carlyle expected back later this season as well. But no one who returns to the Mets’ bullpen is going to push Familia out of the closer’s role; he’s been too good and too important to the team this year, as he’s managed to hold together a bullpen that’s missing so many key pieces.

Bryan Zarpentine is a New York Mets writer at www.RantSports.com.  Like him on Facebook, follow him on twitter @BZarp and add him on Google.