Familia newest Phillies’ free agent folly
The Phillies had a 4.60 bullpen ERA final season, sixth-worst within the main leagues. Philadelphia relievers’ 2.36 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranked nineteenth within the majors in 2021. And the Phillies’ bullpen corps served up 89 homers final 12 months, tied for seventh-most in baseball.
The answer to this? Apparently the Phillies consider it’s Jeurys Familia, the 32-year-old former Mets nearer who had a significant league-leading 51 saves in 2016, and within the final three seasons… has a mixed 4.62 ERA, 1.80 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and 19 residence runs allowed in 146 innings, whereas posting a 1.555 WHIP.
Maybe Philadelphia was taken in by the 9 appearances Familia made towards the Phillies final 12 months, as he held them to a .688 OPS (7-for-27, 2 doubles, no homers) with 5 strikeouts and 4 walks. You’ll assume that in 2021, groups would be capable of keep away from being swayed by a pitcher’s efficiency towards them, and consider his full physique of labor towards the league, however right here we’re.
Will it work? Properly, in 1996, Phillies reliever Toby Borland pitched in 69 video games, with a 4.07 ERA, 9 homers allowed, and 43 walks in 90.2 innings. Mets batters, although, went solely 6-for-31 towards Borland, with two walks and no residence runs in seven video games. On November 27, the Mets traded first baseman Rico Brogna to their division rivals for journeyman reliever Ricardo Jordan, and Borland, who had posted a 7-3 report out of the Philadelphia bullpen, paying homage to Familia going 9-4 final 12 months.
Borland pitched 13 video games for the 1997 Mets, issuing 14 walks in 13.1 innings, with 11 hits and 9 earned runs allowed. With Borland sitting on a 6.08 ERA, New York traded him to the Crimson Sox for Ricky Trlicek, who was even worse and made solely 9 extra appearances in his main league profession.
Familia has a much better resume than Borland, however his finest work is a very long time in the past, no matter what the Phillies noticed final 12 months. And a minimum of this Phillies workforce is managed by Joe Girardi, whose status for managing bullpens…
Okay, perhaps some fan bases would’ve been happier if the lockout continued.
Oddly sufficient, not the Mets, who on Saturday traded minor league pitchers J.T. Ginn and Adam Oller to Oakland for righty starter Chris Bassitt, an All-Star final season and a top-10 finisher in every of the final two American League Cy Younger votes.
Bassitt had the bottom ERA (3.15) and FIP (3.34) of anybody in an excellent Oakland rotation final 12 months, giving up solely 15 homers in 157.1 innings. He turns into the No. 3 starter in a rotation led by Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. That’s glorious comfort for Yusei Kikuchi and his 4.97 ERA in three seasons with Seattle opting to go to the Blue Jays as a free agent.
And in reduction, the Mets now have a secret weapon: Familia in Philadelphia. And 15 years after buying and selling Brogna for Jordan and Borland, they’ve additionally obtained a darn good first baseman that they’re holding onto in Pete Alonso.
There are nonetheless sufficient free brokers and trades accessible for the Mets to bork it up, however for now, it’s the Phillies who’ve assumed the NL East’s mantle of WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? from their followers.
