PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The excitement in the room was palpable when one key player entered the Tradition Field clubhouse Tuesday, as Mets closer Jeurys Familia was greeted by all with a warm welcome upon his arrival to spring training.
Familia, who last year led the league with 51 saves, was two days late, delayed coming from the Dominican Republic because of an apparent visa issue. He didn’t take any questions on his domestic violence case or the suspension that is likely to come from it, asking for only baseball questions during a brief media scrum in the morning.
It seems as though the Mets are having trouble reconciling the Familia they know with his actions on Oct. 31.
Manager Terry Collins is having a particularly tough time coming to terms with the situation, given the history he has with Familia. Collins has known Familia since the right-hander was a prospect in the Mets organization. As the minor league field coordinator in 2010, Collins used to drive Familia to the bank so he could send money home to his family in Santo Domingo.
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“I’m pretty bluntly honest with him at times, but I support him, because I know this kid deep inside,” Collins said. “Whatever he was accused of is a bad thing, and he knows it. But I also know that there’s a huge heart in there. And I know that because I knew this kid when I was driving him to the bank to help him send money home.”
Collins talked to Familia when he arrived at the facility this morning and said the pitcher was “remorseful” in their conversation.
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Third baseman David Wright, who didn’t mince words when his longtime teammate and friend Jose Reyes was suspended 51 games last season for a similar incident, continued to take a strong stance against domestic violence.
“That’s a mistake that shouldn’t be made,” he said. “And at the same time, it seems like guys continue to make that mistake. There’s nothing he can do to go reverse whatever happened, which I’m sure not 100 percent sure of the details. But hopefully in that clubhouse and everybody in sports and everybody in life in general can see that and hopefully learn from that.”
Wright was supportive of his teammate while still making it clear that he think domestic violence has no place in baseball or in life.
“It shouldn’t happen to baseball players, it shouldn’t happen to athletes, it shouldn’t happen to anyone, Wright said. “Hopefully, if there’s any good that can come out of this, it’s that we can spread some awareness not to do that type of thing. Let’s not get ourselves into these problems.”
Familia might be a great guy in the clubhouse, but his off-field actions on Halloween were ones that his teammates can’t — and won’t — defend.
Abbey Mastracco may be reached at amastracco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @abbeymastracco. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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