Jeurys Familia is getting relief from eighth-inning duties.
Instead, the Mets’ beleaguered setup man hit the injured list with right shoulder soreness, Mickey Callaway announced Wednesday.
The manager said Familia notified the team for the first time Wednesday morning that his shoulder was “a little sore,” and he received a cortisone injection. Familia also underwent an MRI exam, which came back “fairly clean,” Callaway said, aside from a Bennett lesion — a bony spur, per the Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery— that he has previously dealt with flaring up.
“That’s probably what he’s feeling right now,” Callaway said.
A timetable for Familia’s return was not immediately clear, but general manager Brodie Van Wagenen was confident the injury should not be a long-term concern.
“I think we’re going to take it a day at a time here, but hopefully it’s only a couple of days and then hopefully the program will allow him to be back up and running when he comes off the IL,” Van Wagenen said before the Mets hosted the Reds at Citi Field. “A Bennett lesion is something we were aware of. An injection, hopefully, should take care of it.”
Familia had been asked to record a six-out save Tuesday night, with closer Edwin Diaz unavailable, and got the first five before imploding and blowing a 3-1 lead. He issued a four-pitch walk and then allowed three straight singles as the Reds tied the game in the ninth inning.
The 29-year-old Familia, who was not made available for comment, currently owns a 6.28 ERA with 13 walks in 14 ¹/₃ innings after rejoining the Mets on a three-year, $30 million deal.
“The stuff has been there,” Callaway said. “If he was feeling uncomfortable, that can lead to command issues. So we’ll see.”
Familia missed 10 days last season with right shoulder soreness, which Van Wagenen indicated was a similar situation. He was also sidelined for 3¹/₂ months in 2017 with a blood clot in his right shoulder.
The former closer is the second Mets reliever to land on the injured list this season, joining lefty Justin Wilson (elbow soreness).
Callaway said Wilson is getting “closer and closer” to a return after throwing off flat ground Wednesday, but may still need to face live hitters before he is activated.
Lefty Ryan O’Rourke, who has allowed seven earned runs in 13²/₃ innings at Triple-A Syracuse, was called up to replace Familia in the bullpen.
Familia’s injury is another hit to a Mets bullpen that entered Wednesday with a 5.38 ERA — the third-highest mark in MLB. Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman will be the leading candidates to fill the eighth-inning role, though Callaway cautioned they are not always available. Luis Avilan and Drew Gagnon, a natural starter, will also need to “step up and get some outs,” Callaway said.
Other relievers on the Mets’ 40-man roster include Tyler Bashlor (6.97 ERA at Syracuse), Eric Hanhold (4.50), Tim Peterson (3.38), Jacob Rhame (8.10 and facing a two-game suspension upon his return), Paul Sewald (2.70) and Drew Smith (Tommy John surgery).
“We do need the Rhames, the Bashlors, the Hanholds of the world to step up and get up here and help us out a little bit in those situations,” Callaway said. “Every organization strives to have the best pitching depth they possibly can. Ours rivals just about any. It’s a situation where you can’t just go out, ‘OK, we need pitching depth,’ and go get — anybody that is better than what we have would already be pitching in the big leagues somewhere.”
Of course, All-Star free-agent closer Craig Kimbrel remains unsigned.
“I just play the players that I’m given,” Callaway said. “We do everything we can to field the best team and I believe in those players that I’m given. That’s really all we need, in my opinion. We’ll go out there and get the job done.”
