Niese not so hot…again

August

Make it three bad starts in a row for Jon Niese. He topped 100 pitches in just five innings of work, clearly battling his control.

Here’s an in-depth look at Maine’s outing from the good people at Mets Prospect Hub.

With Niese now struggling, the Mets have this many appetizing options to replace John Maine if he can’t go Friday: 0

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 11:57 pm by Josh Thomson.
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11 Responses to “Niese not so hot…again”

Kevin August 25th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Did you look at the box score? He gave up two earned runs. Yes over only 5 innings, but I would not call that a “bad start” regardless of a lack of control.
Harry Chiti August 25th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Why bring in facts when the new kids on the block can try to sensationalize based on nothing. He struck out 8 gave up 3 hits but walked 4. If that sucks then the bar has been raised to the standards of the 60s. And what is this farce about no other choices. They could bring up Figueroa or Collazo who aren’t great but then who is great if they are in the minors. Either would eat up 5-6 innings and do better than the retreads of past years have done. It seems that the paper that dumped Delcos is trying to emulate the NY Post. Maybe all those that left were smart. This post and the revolving door of reporters, or are you all free interns? make this place look bad.
Josh Thomson August 25th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Harry…18 IP, 19 H, 7 BB, 8 ER and 17 K. That’s a 4.00 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. Yesterday he threw 103 pitchers in five innings.

By no measure (outside of the K ratio) has Niese been sharp enough that he’s a lock to start in a pennant race.
Roger August 25th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Jon Niese or Brian Stokes?
Josh Thomson August 25th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Roger…I think that’s an interesting debate because Niese, you would have to figure, has more potential to throw a good game. But the Mets may need both (or Stokes and another arm) if Maine can’t go Friday, right?
Roger August 25th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Correct, and with Maine getting a cortisone shot it looks more and more like he’s going to be shut down.

Here’s my thing with the Mets. I understand your trying to protect Mike Pelfrey. Completely 100%, he’s got a golden arm. But, if I’m the Mets I have to wait for Pelfrey to at least LOOK tired before I start talking about pitching my second best pitcher once a week.
Tejesh August 25th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Hey John, thanks for the shoutout.

I am probably the biggest Niese fan alive outside of his parents ;) I’ve followed him from the second he was drafted in 05. I think he’d come up and give you a good effort every time out there, probably in the neighborhood of his last 3 starts in AAA. 5-6 innings, 2-3 runs, 4 era. Which , is absolutely not bad for someone who began the year in Binghamton and is only 21.

This year has been all about that one inning which gets away from him, it’s been a pretty recurring theme for him, from Binghamton, to New Orleans, he’ll cruise for 2-3 innings, have one bad one, and then finish off cruising. Last night was an aberration in that he struggled the whole time, he was really fighting himself. I think he did a very credible job, especially when it was obvious from the first 2 batters on that he didn’t have much control.
Tejesh August 25th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
LOL – Josh. My bad. :eek:
David August 25th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Thanks for the shout out, Josh. =)

To those who say he had a good start and that this report is wrong, all I have to say is that on paper his numbers look solid, but he was obviously a tad wild. 4 walks in 5 innings and 103 pitches is not efficient at all. While I don’t think it was a terrible start, it probably didn’t guarantee him a call up if Maine goes down. Niese may be tiring out a little bit here at the end of the season, and it actually may be making his stuff have more movement(the K’s) but at the same time he is losing a bit of control(the BB’s). Either way, I’d love to see Niese in the majors if they shut down Maine, but I’m not so sure they will bring him up over Figueroa, who may be the one they call up at this point(Warthen has asked for them to bring up Figueroa if Maine goes on the DL)
Tejesh August 25th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
And oh yeah – Niese is now about 18 innings above his career high set last year.
Harry Chiti August 25th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
It wasn’t awesome but it certainly wasn’t a piece of crap. Your report said “He topped 100 pitches in just five innings of work, clearly battling his control.” Your report totally ignored the facts that he K’d 8 gave up only 3 hits and despite the wildness only allowed 2 runs. Seems to me he did very well to survive his wildness and showed he was a pitcher who could survive adversity.

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