PORT ST. LUCIE — Jeurys Familia might want to use the words of Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen for inspiration this spring.
“It’s time for him to show up,” Warthen told The Post on Thursday when asked if Familia has reached a critical juncture in his Mets career.
The 24-year-old right-hander is among the slew of young, powerful arms in camp — joining the likes of Noah Syndergaard, Rafael Montero, Vic Black, Cory Mazzoni and Jacob deGrom. Familia, however, is now in his third spring training, and still is trying to show the Mets he belongs.
Last year, Familia made nine relief appearances and posted a 4.22 ERA before undergoing surgery in June to remove a bone spur from his right elbow, essentially ending his season. Familia has taken a divergent path from Matt Harvey, to whom he was linked coming up through the Mets’ farm system.
Harvey had Tommy John surgery in October and is expected to miss all of this season, but he flourished in 2013, when he was the National League’s starting pitcher for the All-Star Game at Citi Field.
Among the storylines two years ago at spring training was Harvey and Familia pushing each other in a competition to see who would join the Mets first. Now Harvey’s place with the Mets seems secure, while Familia still is trying to emerge, as a reliever.
“I think I’ve got a chance,” Familia said. “If I throw strikes, I think I can help the team this year.”
Warthen and manager Terry Collins still envision Familia as a potential back-end-of-the-bullpen option who can perhaps emerge as Bobby Parnell’s set-up man. Familia still relies on a hard fastball, with a sinker and slider that have exceptional movement.
“You can’t find guys that throw 96-98 [mph] with that kind of movement,” Collins said. “And you can’t give up on those guys.”
Familia participated in the Arizona Fall League and also had a stint pitching in the Dominican Republic this winter. A point of emphasis, according to Warthen, was correcting a glitch in Familia’s delivery that umpires last season had warned the Mets was a borderline balk move.
“He had a little hitch when he would lift his leg — even umpires were saying they were going to have to call it,” Warthen said. “It was a little glitch and it was really difficult to get it out of him, he had been doing it for so long.
“He got that out, everything is in order right now, it seems like he’s matured. It doesn’t seem he has the anxiety or the anxiousness that he had as a young player, so I’m pretty excited about him.”
Jose Valverde’s addition on a minor league contract is expected to have a positive effect on Familia, who has spent much of the last week becoming acquainted with the veteran reliever.
For Familia, there is no secret formula.
“I’ve been working in Arizona and the Dominican, throwing my first pitch for a strike,” Familia said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a breaking ball or a fastball. Just get ahead in the count.”
Familia, according to Warthen, is a “both ends of the spectrum” pitcher — if he gets ahead with the first pitch, he’s effective. Otherwise, he’s subpar. Last year, opposing batters hit .467 against Familia when he was behind in the count.
“I think that he has got as good of stuff as anybody out of the bullpen in the National League,” Warthen said. “That’s how good he is. Power, resilience, breaking ball, changeup, sinker. All of it. It’s just a matter of if he’s going to throw the ball across the plate. If he does that, he is going to be good.”