According to MiLB.com, Jon Niese was named International League pitcher of the week after compiling a 1-0 record and 1.06 ERA in two starts for the Bisons. Niese, who allowed 10 hits and struck out 14 in 17 innings, has rebounded to go 4-1 in his last six starts with a 1.04 ERA.
After a terrible start to his season, Niese has rebounded nicely and has lowered his ERA to a more respectable 4.31 after a 8.67 ERA in his first six starts that had everyone in the organization very concerned. In 81 innings pitched he has allowed 85 hits and 23 walks while striking out 75 batters.
It’s interesting to note that lefthanders are hitting .290 against him, while right handers are hitting just .259. He has allowed 3 homers in 16.1 innings pitched to lefthanders, and just 4 homers in 65 innings pitched to right handers.
There seems to be a growing sentiment in the Mets blogosphere that Niese is long overdue for another shot in the rotation, but I’m still a little skeptical.
I would rather see Niese string together a few more solid starts before yanking him from the minors and feeding him to the lions. His six impressive starts do not erase his other eight starts, and he hasn’t exactly blown away AAA hitting.
When he puts runners on base, he still seems to make matters worse as he did in his first tour of duty with the Mets. His ERA with runners on base is 8.97, and hitters are batting .310 against him. Those numbers should be expected to climb against major league hitting.
Truth be told, at this point I would trust Nelson Figueroa in the rotation more than I would Niese.
Figueroa is having a solid season and has already proven on many occasions that he can succeed at the major league level. He won’t exactly blow you away with his arsenal, but he can limit the damage and keep you in the game.
With runners on base, Figueroa holds hitters to a .183 batting average, not .314 like Niese.
The only Bisons player going to the AAA All Star game has a 2.67 ERA in 82 innings pitched and allowed just 68 hits and 22 walks while striking out 68 batters. That’s a 3:1 K/BB ratio and a 1.09 WHIP.
The obvious answer seems very clear to me my friends.
Jon Niese simply has more to prove in AAA before we thrust him back into the rotation, while Nelson Figueroa has earned a promotion because of a season long track record of success.
I hope the Mets make the right choice the next time they make the call to Buffalo.
By the way, in an interesting post on Amazin Avenue, James K. took a solid common sense approach toward deciding what constitutes a number one pitcher or a number five pitcher. He contends that if a pitcher is in the top 1/5 of starters in his league, then he should be called a #1 starter. The next 1/5 are #2’s, the next 1/5 are #3’s, etc. He compiled an informative list that you may find surprising.
FIGGY!!!!!!!
Let him stay in the minors and build up his trade value, then we can get somebody good for him. I’m unimpressed by him, I don’t think he’s going to be good for the Mets.
I’m totally with you, Joe. Niese is still young. There’s a better chance that Niese can improve in the minor leagues than in the majors. Nelly Figs is more battle tested in the majors and has already had a number of good starts for the Mets. I think it’s time to get Figgy with it at Citi Field!
I just read that the Jays are going to listen to offers for Roy Halladay. As if things aren’t bad enough for the Mets, imagine Roy Halladay pitching for the Phillies. I’m starting to hate baseball….
MetsFanMD, I read that too, but they said they’re LISTENING on offers. Riccardi says he wants to keep Halladay in Toronto and is trying to give him a contract extension. I guarantee you Halladay is going nowhere. Besides, the Jays are still in contention. But, Rios or Wells might be traded, because J.P. Ricarrdi wants to unload some salary so he can give Roy Halladay that extension. I heard the Blue Jays were “giving them away”. We’d still have to give prospects, but not all that much, and I’d take Rios. Come on Minaya, trade for Rios!
Good article. Well reasoned. Figgy is overdue for another shot. He’s been pitching well since last year, through the winter league and Baseball Classic and now in AAA. And he’s got more moxie than the entire Mets roster combined. In fact, Figgy’s first start should be against the Nationals, so that he can pick a fight and wake up the entire Met organization.
Niese has looked good. Woo! Good for him. He’s still not ready.
I wholeheartedly agree that Nelson should be trusted more than Niese until he proves us wrong. But believe it or not, I’m gonna keep believing in Oliver Perez.
Yuh know what! None of this matters. Who really cares if the Mets try out either of those guys? What difference does it make? This season is shot and other than Santana and Pelfrey, the rotation is pretty much irrelevant. Without any offense to speak of, whoever starts doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting a W. Let’s see what Crazy Ollie does tonight against LA (barf!). That should be as much fun as a barrel of monkeys.
“Figueroa … has already proven on many occasions that he can succeed at the major league level.”
No, Figueroa has proven that he can be a below-average starter at the major league level. Figueroa, who is *35 years old* (so we can’t reasonably expect him to improve beyond where he is now), has a career major league WHIP of 1.446, an ERA+ of 92, and a K:BB of 1.46. With the Mets (i.e., over the last two years, rather than looking at his performance before he turned 30), he has a WHIP of 1.578 and a K:BB of 1.39. Look, he was a good story and all that, being a Brooklyn guy returning to the majors after a long absence, but there’s a reason he bounced around between the minors, Mexico and even Taiwan after he missed 2005 due to injury. With the recent injury news about Beltran and Reyes, it’s time to start thinking about next year anyway, and it’s pretty clear which of these two guys is more likely to contribute to the Mets in 2010.