2011 stats - 11 W, 11 L, 4.40 ERA, 157.1 IP, 178 H
There are a number of pitching story lines to track this spring and the progression of Jon Niese is most certainly one of them. The talented left hander has shown glimpses of brilliance and the potential for what he can be in a Mets uniform. There are many in the media, and organization, that feel this may be the season that Niese puts it all together and has a very strong campaign.
There have been two factors that have currently held Niese back, and the hope is that those factors will be corrected this season. The first is the obvious with this club: injuries. Niese missed the final five weeks of 2011 due to a strained rib cage and he has previously missed time earlier in his career with hamstring issues. This doesn't fall as much on Niese as it does the black cloud hanging over the team.
The other factor, which is common with most young pitchers, is fatigue. Usually this tends to occur once the summer roles around and Niese tends to go 2-3 weeks without having his best stuff. Pitches tend to stay up in the zone and over compensation leads to a bit of wildness. This may be a factor that Niese can control, not only by maturation but by a cosmetic procedure he had done during the off-season. The southpaw had surgery on nose, which not only reshaped it, but opened up the airways into his lungs for him to breathe easier. He has already stated that he was able to lose up to ten pounds this off-season because he was able to get in better physical shape.
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