Jonathon Niese, Thank You

With the Mets spiraling out of control and the season’s fate on the line, rookie Jonathon Niese did all he could to keep the team’s playoffs hopes alive. 

Niese went out and manged to stymie Philly hitters to the tune of 7 IP, 1 ER, and 7 strike outs. To fully grasp Niese’s dominance, one need look no farther than his performance in the fourth inning, where the lefty threw 10 of his 11 pitches for strikes and K’d the side on Wainwright-esque knee-buckling curves. 

If it wasn’t for an eighth inning bullpen implosion, the 6’4″ lefty would have won his eighth game of the season, tying him for second among MLB rookies in that category.  Instead, Niese remains tied for third:

With a series loss to the Phillies and all hopes of a successful season coming to an end, their is still a silver lining. How is that possible? 

Simply put, Jonathan Niese is showing that he will be part of the solution moving forward. Niese was selected by the NY Mets in Round 7 (No. 209) of the 2005 MLB draft out of Defiance High School in Ohio, and at the time MLB.com offered the following analysis on the Mets selection:

"

Good kid. Has a good idea of what pitching is about. Fast ball sits in upper-80s w/ the usual late movement left-handed pitchers have. Curve ball is his out pitch w/ good downward action and late bite. Circle change is deceptive.”

"

It was the same draft in which the Mets selected Mike Pelfrey with the ninth overall pick and while Pelfrey has received the most hype of the two, it is Niese who has taken the bigger steps forward in his development this season. 

Big Pelf has seemingly turned the corner so many times, but his most recent turn has put the former first rounder at a dead end. Niese, on the other hand, has put together an impressive rookie campaign:

In very un-Pelfrey like fashion, Jonathon has demonstrated the ability and mental fortitude to bounce back following less than impressive starts, rarely stringing together consecutive poor outings. In fact, following games in which he has allowed five or more earned runs (three times), he has managed a 1.31 ‘bounce back’ ERA (20 2/3 IP, 3 ER). 

There’s nothing overwhelming about Niese’s stuff, but it’s becoming more and more..TO READ THE REST OF THIS POST AND OTHERS LIKE IT HEAD TO METSZILLA.COM BY CLICKING HERE:http://www.metszilla.com/?p=9558