Jon Niese threw 99 pitches, but only 10 were curveballs — supposedly his signature "out" pitch and...

Jon Niese threw 99 pitches, but only 10 were curveballs — supposedly his signature "out" pitch and what many feel is his best weapon. Though, from what we understand, the thin air in Colorado destroys the vertical break of even the best curves. I liked what I saw from Niese’s ability to handle himself in the postgame interviews, and believe he is mentally and emotionally prepared to pitch in New York. Unfortunately, he appears to be extremely vulnerable without the deuce. But, it’s likely the last time in 2010 he pitches at a mile-high altitude, so he should get back to being the MLB-average pitcher the Mets need him to be. I’m not concerned in the least.

From Joe Janish via Tedquarters

about 2 years ago Gina 13 comments 0 recs |

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good to hear

I think Niese is going to be a pleasant surprise this year. I really don’t think he’s been anywhere near as bad as his 6+ ERA suggests so far.

2009 Did Not Happen

by cjmulrain on Apr 15, 2010 10:34 AM EDT reply actions

Nice

I’m not concerned about Niese either, or Pelf.

by deadspy3 on Apr 15, 2010 11:05 AM EDT reply actions

But consider that there were at least two Jacobs misplays last night that kept innings alive (and in one case, led directly to Cook scoring). He could have been through 5 innings “scattering” those 9 hits to the tune of 3 runs.

by LeiterMilnerFasterStronger on Apr 15, 2010 12:06 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah, that was always one of the overlooked factors about baseball at Coors

The thing with the breaking pitches, I mean. I think the Rockies have built their pitching staff with that in mind. No reason to pile on Niese about it. He really needs more help from his D. There were a couple of balls that got past Castillo too, that were like, what?

by JoshNY on Apr 15, 2010 12:17 PM EDT reply actions

Jerry's fault, again

Let’s see.

Your pseudo-rookie pitcher relies on his curve, which doesn’t work well at Coors. So you:

(a) have him start the 3rd and 8th games of the season, vs FLA and @ COL, respectively or

(b) have him start the 5th and 10th games of the season, vs WAS and @STL, respectively.

by Dan Lewis on Apr 15, 2010 1:06 PM EDT reply actions

What is the complaint?

by Sam Page on Apr 15, 2010 1:43 PM EDT up reply actions

The complaint seems to be

that by shuffling the rotation the way he did, Jerry arranged things so Niese would be scheduled to pitch at Coors, where it could have reasonably been foreseen that he would be ineffective (because of his reliance on his curveball), and that Jerry should therefore have left the rotation Johan-Maine-Perez-Pelf-Niese as people assumed it was going to be.

by JoshNY on Apr 15, 2010 5:25 PM EDT up reply actions

a valid complaint in my view

by Endys Game on Apr 15, 2010 7:29 PM EDT up reply actions

then you have Maine and Perez going back to back

and you’re bullpens worn out 3 games into the season. If the plan was to spread Maine and Perez out as much as possible it seems perfectly reasonable.

And to top off their greatest season yet the new jersey nets scored 86 points...in double overtime. yes a professional basketball team only mustered 86 points in 58 minutes of basketball.

by Gina on Apr 15, 2010 7:35 PM EDT up reply actions

that is true

except under my ideal plan, at least one of those guys wouldn’t be starting

by Endys Game on Apr 15, 2010 7:52 PM EDT up reply actions

What's even worse is that by pitching Perez in the 5th slot

Manuel could have limited him to 2 starts in April. THAT’S why you pitch friggin’ Ollie 5th! Instead, Manuel pitches his ace on five days rest to make sure Perez gets all his starts, even as he pitches Niese in the park in the majors least favorable to him.

And people say Maneul isn’t some kind of genius!

by Jack Str on Apr 17, 2010 5:24 AM EDT up reply actions