Phillies sign Jeurys Familia and Brad Hand

March 15th, 2022

The Phillies have signed right-handed reliever Jeurys Familia and left-handed reliever Brad Hand to one-year contracts, President of Baseball Operations David Dombrowski announced today.

Familia, 32, appeared in 65 games for the New York Mets last season, posting a 3.94 ERA (26 ER, 59.1 IP) and striking out 72 of the 262 batters he faced (27.5%).

In his career, Familia has faced 1,171 right-handed hitters and held them to a .199/.286/.284 slash line. Among all pitchers to face at least 1,000 right-handed hitters since his first season in 2012, Familia’s .284 opponents slugging percentage ranks fifth behind only Craig Kimbrel (.247), Blake Treinen (.277), Aroldis Chapman (.278) and Kenley Jansen (.279).

A 2016 National League All-Star with the Mets, Familia led the majors that year with 51 saves, which stands as a Mets franchise record. At the time he was only the 13th pitcher in major league history to reach 50 saves in a single season. Familia converted 52 consecutive saves over the span of two seasons from Aug. 1, 2015 through July 26, 2016. It was the third-longest consecutive saves streak in major league history behind only Eric Gagne (84 straight) and Tom Gordon (54 straight).

From 2015-20, Familia allowed only 20 home runs in 339.0 innings pitched and his 0.53 HR/9.0 IP average ranked fifth in the majors behind only Zack Britton (0.34), Chapman (0.46), Brad Ziegler (0.49) and Mark Melancon (0.50).

Familia has appeared in 499 career games over parts of 10 seasons with the New York Mets (2012-18; 2019-21) and Oakland Athletics (2018). He has appeared in 14 career postseason games and has posted a 2.16 ERA in October (4 ER, 16.2 IP), which includes a 1.80 mark in the World Series (1 ER, 5.0 IP). He was originally signed by the Mets as an amateur free agent on July 13, 2007.

A three-time All-Star, Hand pitched for the Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets last season. In 68 combined games between the three clubs, Hand posted a 3.90 ERA (28 ER, 64.2 IP) with 61 strikeouts.

In 2020 with the Cleveland Guardians, Hand was selected to the All-MLB Second Team after posting a 2.05 ERA (5 ER, 22.0 IP) in 23 appearances. He went 16-for-16 in save opportunities and held the 86 batters he faced to a .169/.226/.260 slash line with 29 strikeouts to just four walks.

Among all major league relievers since 2016, Hand ranks first in appearances (374) and innings (384.2) and second in strikeouts with 495, trailing only Edwin Díaz (539). Further, among all left-handed relievers with at least 200.0 innings since 2016, Hand’s 2.90 ERA in that span ranks fifth behind Zack Britton (2.18), Josh Hader (2.26), Aroldis Chapman (2.56) and Andrew Miller (2.88).

Since 2016, Hand has faced 494 left-handed hitters and has held them to a .162/.252/.276 slash line. His .528 opponents OPS against lefties ranks third in the majors since 2016 behind only Hader (.463) and José Urquidy (.525). He has allowed just one home run to a left-handed hitter since Sept. 11, 2018, a span of 165 batters faced.

A veteran of 11 major league seasons, Hand has pitched for the Miami Marlins (2011-15), San Diego Padres (2016-18), Guardians (2018-20), Nationals (2021), Blue Jays (2021) and Mets (2021). He was originally drafted by the Marlins in the second round of the June 2008 draft out of Chaska High School (Minn.).

To make room on the 40-man roster, left-hander Scott Moss has been designated for assignment.