Comments on: Is Jon Niese Underrated?

By: Metsie

Metsie — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:18:21 +0000

Doesn’t sound rediculous at all….I said after his very first game that he reminded me an awful lot of Seaver…
but Still too early to lock him up long term though…

You really wouldn’t want to start paying big bucks while he is still pre-arb.
And never before he has actually pitched a full season in the MLB….

Your right they should (if he continues what he has been doing) buy out his arb year and extend him past his FA date…

But we have some time to do that.

By: Hotstreak

Hotstreak — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 13:46:13 +0000

Metsie: Harvey is the projected Ace just like Seaver. We have to lock him up fast with Borus as his agent. That is tougher than said. Niese’s goal should be Pettite or at at least like Koosman /Viola types who were pretty good too. However all not HOF I know it sounds ridiculous saying Harvey is the next Seaver but the signs point to it. Harvey’s mechanics are the best I ever saw a pitcher have jut like a like a pitching machine.

By: Metsie

Metsie — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 07:46:01 +0000

He has a few pitches that could be out pitches thats the funny thing about Niese….

As I siad he has the stuff to be great even Hall Great…
But having the pitches isn’t enough…He has to learn how to use them, use one pitch to set up the other. He has showed glimmers of it and others like you said he gets into these long foul off sessions which gets to his other problem that needs improving…

He has to go later into games and not lose it so fast. He improved on that last year starting in July.Before that he rarely ever pitched 7 Innings…

Dickey won all the games he did by going to 8 regularly which also makes it easy to keep the wins because you have your whole pen to cover 2 Innings.

I think this is a key year for him….
If he doesn’t take another step then he is probably all he is going to be…Thats not a Knock he is still a pretty good pitcher but likely not going to be an Annual Cy Young Runner…

13-16 wins will be his average.

If he does take that step then he could easily be a 16-20 game winner…
And then the only question Left to ponder will be who is Better? Harvey or Niese?

By: Hotstreak

Hotstreak — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:51:56 +0000

Metsie: Actually I was tone of the first ones on the Niece bandwagon and was also maybe the first to compare him to Andy Pettite. Now I am not sure he will go to the next level. I am a big believer in BABIP. Niese use to be the poster boy for bad luck with a BABIP I believe over .310 up until last year when his BABIP was .270 or so. Unless he get the out pitch (too many foul balls like John Maine syndrome) he is liable to regress slightly. Now I think Dillion Gee is under rated as he had a ton of quality starts (QS). Both of them are tough competitors.

By: Metsie

Metsie — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:46:01 +0000

He’s good but he is not an elite pitcher yet….
A lot of people think he will be…
If he takes another step he probably will be…

If he doesn’t he will be a good pitcher but never considered one of the great pitchers.

By: DrDooby

DrDooby — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:02:54 +0000

To put it differently, there would be room for Niese in EVERY rotation in Baseball right now.

By: DrDooby

DrDooby — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:02:17 +0000

Again, with all due respect, how much more do you expect ?
Check out Niese´s 2012 stats. He´s right there among the 30 or so best pitchers in Baseball in pretty much every relevant category.
And while he´s very good & steady – he lacks a plus plus pitch that´ll lead to dominance.
So, I´d happily settle for a repeat of his 2012 numbers in 2013 and going forward. That´s a very good pitcher.

By: DrDooby

DrDooby — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 06:00:09 +0000

Very much agreed on Darling. That (or Andy Pettitte) is a good comparison.
A great # 3 starter and decent enough # 2 starter – on a good team. A lot of teams do not have a # 1 or # 2 type SP anyway, so a “# 3 caliber SP ” in scouting terms is often leading a rotation by default.

In a best case scenario he´ll be following Wheeler & Harvey in the middle of future Mets rotations ahead of, say Dillon Gee (and eventually maybe Rafael Montero) and whoever is the # 5 SP.

Since he already had a very good 2012 season, I don´t see why people expect or hope for a breakout from him. He already was one of the top 25 to 35 SP in Baseball in 2012. How much more of a breakout do you expect, barring the expectation that he turns into a Cliff Lee type ace ?

By: Russell's Mets

Russell's Mets — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 05:42:55 +0000

Please don’t Jinx this guy, just let him be.

By: Russell's Mets

Russell's Mets — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 05:41:59 +0000

All the scouting reports I’ve read have Wheelers potential max-ed at #2.

By: B-Met Fan

B-Met Fan — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 04:33:23 +0000

Neise is on a steady rise in the big leagues. He’s a dependable starter, someone many baseball teams would be glad to hand the baseball every fifth day. When Neise pitched in Binghamton I tried to get to the park to see every one of his starts. He had trouble with consistency in AA but has big breaking curveball was great to watch. Last summer I saw similarities with Gorski and Neise. In AA Neise had a bit more fastball zip but their approach to pitching was much the same.

By: L.J.Phipps

L.J.Phipps — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 01:37:55 +0000

If Wheeler develops like everyone expects, and Harvey continues his success what a great front 3 the Mets would have. Niese has improved every year and I like the potential for a Mets version of Maddux, Glavine, & Smoltz. No pressure to be those 3 former pitchers and most likely all hall of famers, but wouldn’t it be nice.

By: Metsie

Metsie — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 23:08:09 +0000

Underrated? I don’t think so….He has a lot of potential that he hasn’t quite hit yet….

In Fact he may be OVERRATED if he never takes that next step.

As for what he has done in spring so far….
A guy with as many pitches in his arsenal as he has is not going to be good quickly in spring…
First off he won’t use them all right away, Work on a few then work on the others once his comfortable with the first targets.

Second a guy like Niese is hardly trying to get people out he is merely trying to get his pitches working and controling/locating them.

He is not looking at scouting reports on the batter nor working a batter in any way.
In fact his pitch selection is probably the same as it would be if there was no batter at all to face!

As for the under or over….Within two years time we will know which…
Lots of people expect more from him….If they don’t get it then he is overrated…
A lot of people think he’s good not great….If he takes another step up then he is underrated.

I think we should just let him do what he is going to do, keep him healthy and hope something clicks to make him ELITE.
He has the stuff now it’s about does he learn how to use it to get to the Cy Young running.

By: Old School Mets Fan

Old School Mets Fan — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 22:24:25 +0000

Not underrated, just rated. Every rotation needs a Ron Darling type

By: Wilponzi

Wilponzi — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:55:03 +0000

I agree as well! I think this season is a big step into discovering Neise’s character and leadership that could help the young rotation in coming seasons.

By: Chicago Days

Chicago Days — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:42:22 +0000

Harvey no-no’d Marlins over 4 1/3 today. MDD homered.

By: Chicago Days

Chicago Days — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:39:33 +0000

I think Niese is still peaking. He’ll be a # 2 for us for ‘the future’. IF we are planning to contend in ’14, trading Niese would be nuts.

By: taskmaster4450

taskmaster4450 — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:35:24 +0000

Is Niese underrated? No he is not.

He has good upside and that is all. He is a mid rotation pitcher at this point; something that he will not likely eclipse. A good young pitcher to have as a mainstay in the rotation for years to come. However, he is not a front end pitcher at this point. He might get there but then it would be a surprise based upon the scouting on him.

Contrast that with Wheeler who is projected as a #1. His upside is much higher than Niese, at least in terms of potential. He might only be a mid rotation guy also but that would be a letdown based upon the scouting reports.

I like Niese and am glad they didnt trade him. He will be a constant in the rotation for another 1/2 decade.

By: Clayton Collier

Clayton Collier — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:44:14 +0000

Not so much that he isn’t mentioned whatsoever, but the poster children are Harvey and Wheeler, and Niese should be in the mix there

By: Mr North Jersey

Mr North Jersey — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:02:14 +0000

Sorry, should of expanded what I meant by “it” is being the future.