Mets could possibly have Jeurys Familia back this weekend in Washington

Jeurys Familia has been sidelined since May with an arterial clot in his shoulder, but is on the verge of returning to the Mets’ staff

Mets closer Jeurys Familia could return as soon as this weekend. Mike Puma of the New York Post reported Familia could be back with the team when they start a 10-game road trip in Washington Friday.

Familia is currently on rehab after suffering an arterial clot in his shoulder, which has sidelined him for three months. He threw two scoreless innings over two appearances with St. Lucie. In his last outing against Dunedin, Familia notched three strikeouts. He also allowed a hit and a walk. In all, Familia threw 25 pitches and 13 strikes. He also fired a scoreless frame against Clearwater.

Whenever Familia does return, we’ll get a sneak peek at how the back end of the bullpen will mesh going into next season. The Mets acquired AJ Ramos at the trade deadline and Jerry Blevins has also been used in late game situations.

This season has seen Familia miss time at the start of the year because of a suspension. Upon returning to the Mets, Familia pitched in 11 games and recorded three saves in four tries. He allowed seven hits and eight walks, which translated to five runs in 9.1 innings.

Late game situations have been adventurous under Ramos in his short tenure with the Mets and in general. The same can certainly be said for Familia. Even in his 51-save season in 2016, Familia saw his WHIP go up to 1.21. That number was at 1.00 during the Mets’ run to the postseason in 2015. He has 39 walks in his last 87 innings, going back to the beginning of 2016.

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The 27-year old will get a little over a month to iron out the control issues that have been plaguing him lately. Familia is a devastating closer when he’s on his game, but he’s also made more than a few ninth innings into nail biters. It will be interesting to see how he comes back off a pretty serious shoulder injury that sidelined him for more than half the season.