SAN FRANCISCO - The Mets just had to throw Jeurys Familia into the fire. The hard-throwing right hander had grown up as a reliever in 2014, blossoming in the role of eighth-inning guy and developing into a devastating reliever. The Mets had hoped he would eventually develop into a closer at some point.
But in April the Mets had no choice. They had to force Familia into the closer’s role when Jenrry Mejia was suspended 80 games.
“I was one of the guys who didn’t know what he would do when he had to do the closing role,” Mets bullpen coach Ricky Bones said.