The Phillies deserved to lose Tuesday night’s game, plain and simple. The offense went completely silent, and Kyle Gibson was good-not-great, allowing three earned runs over 6.1 innings. Hopefully they’ll rebound tomorrow afternoon, but even so, one thing has been made clear: Jeurys Familia can’t get hitters out anymore.
Kyle Gibson left tonight’s game with the Phillies down 3-0 with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Not a masterful performance, but he certainly kept his team in the game. However, the Bryce Harper-less Phils just couldn’t get anything going at the plate. To be frank, it seemed like they were destined to lose this one.
Despite the 3-0 Rangers lead, there was still a decent chance the Phillies could come back. They certainly have done so before this season. And yet, all hope was flushed down the drain once Jeurys Familia entered the game.
Familia was a big part of Dave Dombrowski’s bullpen “overhaul” this past winter, alongside Corey Knebel and Brad Hand. We all know by now that it just hasn’t worked. Hand has been solid, but Knebel can’t find the strike zone and lost the closer’s job last week. And of course, Familia has been even worse.
A 2016 All-Star with the Mets, Jeurys Familia has had a decent amount of success at the major league level. He’s racked up 125 saves in 11 MLB seasons, and came into this year with a 3.28 lifetime ERA. He was a reasonable guy to take a chance on. But, as happens so often with the Phillies, their new acquisition completely imploded.
Familia has taken the mound for the Phillies 27 times this season, hurling 24.1 total innings. So far he’s walked 11 and surrendered 32 hits. 32 HITS! That gives him an atrocious 1.77 WHIP. His ERA doesn’t look any better, as it now stands at 5.55 after allowing four more earned runs on Tuesday night.
Jeurys Familia took a game that was within reach, and made it completely unwinnable. He came into a three-run game, and completely blew the lid off. Yes, the Phillies ended up being shut out anyway. So Familia is not the only problem here. But this is bigger than one game. Jeurys Familia has been an albatross to this team all year, and he can’t be trusted in close ballgames. If the Phillies don’t want to eat his $6 million salary and cut him loose, he at least needs to be demoted to mop up duty. Jeurys Familia has made one ring clear to all of us: he’s a poor excuse for a major league pitcher.