WASHINGTON — Everything felt familiar to Jeurys Familia, even if his job has changed. Wearing his old gray uniform, No. 27. Warming up in the visitor’s bullpen at Nationals Park. Jogging in from the pen — and eschewing the baseball-cap golf cart offering a lift.
“This was special to me,” he said, “because the Mets have always been special to me.”
Familia, who saved 124 games as a Met (including 43 in 2015 and 51 in ’16) is no longer the closer, a job that now belongs to Edwin Diaz. But he still has closer’s stuff and still has a closer’s mentality even as he settles into the equally critical job as the Mets’ eighth-inning guy, a job he performed well at after being dealt to Oakland last year.