Most surprising Mets statistic of the year comes from Jeurys Familia

Did New York Mets reliever Jeurys Familia have his head dunked underwater in some Midwestern lake this offseason? The man looks reborn! Well, this is at least the case when we look at the veteran’s ERA.

The 2021 season has included a couple of surprising statistics. Nobody expected Francisco Lindor to have a batting average rivaling many starting pitchers. Offensive numbers are worse than expected, pitching numbers are much better.

Among those positive ones that fall into the category of “surprise,” it’s the 1.13 ERA Familia has after 10 appearances that has fans pinching themselves.

The Mets are using Jeurys Familia in the best way possible and getting the most out of him for it

Kudos to the Mets for continuing to use Familia in the best way possible to get the most out of him. As fantastic as the 1.13 ERA after 8 innings is, it is only 8 innings. They are well aware that he still does own a 1.50 WHIP and hitters are batting .250 against him.

An earned run average only tells part of the tale. Familia’s, while fantastic in the early going, is a false indicator of his performance this year.

Still, I give him credit for walking the tight rope and coming away unscathed more often than not. It’s one thing to pitch so amazingly well and have an ERA this low. It is yet another to have some major flaws in other areas and continue to get away with putting runners on base.

Adding to the performance Familia has had, he has now gone nine straight appearances without allowing a run to score. He has finished six total games, earning a save in one. The one game where he did allow runs to score (one earned, one unearned) was still a win for the Mets which only adds to the intrigue.

Putting it bluntly and simply, Familia has done nothing but help the Mets win games this year. Even in the losses he pitched in, he has kept them in the game.

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Shaky at times, it has been a pleasure to see Familia actually get the job done each time he enters the game. Minus the usual awesomeness of Seth Lugo and the possibility of Dellin Betances bouncing back (which doesn’t seem like it’ll happen), Familia has seemingly gone full vintage and has actually become a useful piece in the bullpen. If you saw this coming, please send me lottery numbers.