Mariners Free Agent Target: Jeurys Familia Is a solid reliever

The Seattle Mariners had one of the most surprisingly good bullpens in baseball last year, but they will need to add quality arms to it to make it better as well as deeper. One target for the Mariners is right-handed reliever Jeurys Familia, who has spent almost his whole career with the New York Mets. He has been solid but has been judged harshly by the New York media. He has gotten lots of heat for when he blows a game, but not enough praise when he is reliable, which he is quite often.

Looking at Familia’s career, he averages 68 innings pitched, a 3.28 ERA, and a 3.44 FIP over 162 games. He had had multiple seasons where he has had over 70 innings pitched, which is a lot for a reliever, but that has not happened since 2018. Last year, Familia was pretty solid. He pitched 59.1 innings, had a 3.94 ERA, a 4.44 FIP, but was a net 0 WAR pitcher. Even though he was not worth any positive WAR, he still would be a dependable addition to the Seattle bullpen.

Jeurys Familia is very dependable because he is used to pitching a lot. Paul Sewald was gassed down the stretch after pitching in 64 innings, but Familia has pitched over 70 innings (again, not since 2018) four times in his career. Bringing in Familia would not make him the closer, but to make him a reliable 6th or 7th inning reliever as a depth option. He can also be someone who can pitch in high leverage spots if need be.

Having someone to take the pressure off of Paul Sewald and Drew Steckenrider is tremendously worthwhile. Trading for someone like Craig Kimbrel would also do this, but without the high price and loss of prospects. Bringing in Jeurys Familia is going to provide similar production to the players the Mariners could look at to add to the bullpen, and he has plenty of experience in tight situations with the Mets.

Not only is Jeurys Familia dependable, but he has nasty stuff as well.

Jeurys Familia has a strong arsenal of pitches, led by a high 90s fastball and sinker. He also has a good slider to go along with these high 90s offerings. Additionally, he will mix in a splitter/changeup to get batters off balance. His sinker is his best pitch, and he has lots of movement on it.

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Having such a nasty pitch is part of what makes Jeurys Familia such a good reliever. He would give manager Scott Servais someone to go to out of the bullpen to be dependable and reliable. He has experience in the postseason, pitching in the World Series in 2015 for the Mets. Familia would certainly be someone worth adding for the Mariners, and one that Jerry Dipoto should look at for lengthening his bullpen in 2022.