Familia became the Mets’ closer in 2015, when he took over the role from a friend, Jenrry Mejia, who was suspended 80 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. Mejia ended up being suspended twice more for the same offense and is now barred from baseball. As Mejia created trouble for himself, Familia became one of the best closers in baseball.

He posted 43 saves in 2015 and 51 this season. It was a standout effort that helped the Mets reach the National League wild-card game against the San Francisco Giants.

In that game, Familia surrendered a three-run home run that broke a scoreless tie and ended up eliminating the Mets from the postseason. Despite that setback, Familia, who earned $4.1 million in 2016, was perceived as a pillar of the team, a solid and reliable player popular among his teammates for his consistently cheerful attitude.

Now his status for the start of the 2017 season is in question because baseball, under a new domestic violence policy that was enacted last year, has been assertive in suspending players involved in such cases.

Among those suspended under the policy was Familia’s teammate Jose Reyes, who was barred for 52 games in 2016 as a result of a domestic violence episode that occurred when he was a member of the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies released him in June, as his suspension was ending, and the Mets then signed him as a free agent, allowing him to return to the team where he began his career.

Three other players have also been suspended under the policy: Chicago Cubs closer Aroldis Chapman (30 games), Atlanta third baseman Hector Olivera (82 games) and the Houston Astros minor league outfielder Danry Vasquez (indefinite suspension pending the completion of a criminal investigation). All but Chapman were arrested by the authorities and later released by their teams.