6
2013
Niese Couldn’t Get His Curve Over, Still Working On Some Things
An article by 
It’s not the pitching line, but the feel of his pitches this time of year.
“I felt good. My stuff was very good,” Jonathan Niese said after this afternoon’s 62-pitch outing against the Venezuelan WBC team.
“I am not used to that kind of workload (this early in spring training). But, that’s a good thing.”
Niese said getting his curveball over and mastering his change-up is what concerns him most. Both are feel pitches requiring time to master.“I have to get my curveball over,” Niese said. “I couldn’t get my curve-ball over for strikes. My change-up is getting a lot better, but it’s not where I want. I need to build off this. Usually my change-up is always the last pitch. … I like where my arm strength is and I like how the ball is coming out of my hand.”
Niese called pitching to the Venezuelan team, which includes Miguel Cabrera, Pablo Sandoval and Carlos Gonzalez as “humbling.”
“They have a good lineup,” Niese said. “They made me work. I made a couple of mistakes and they made me pay for them.”
Another thing Niese is getting acclimated to is pitching to veteran catcher John Buck. The first impression has been a good one.
“We have to work a lot more together,” Niese said. “He calls a great game.”
Manager Terry Collins said Niese will be the Opening Day starter if Johan Santana can’t go, which appears the likely scenario now.
“We all want it,”Niese said when asked if he coveted the assignment. “Who wouldn’t?”
Niese went 2.1 innings this afternoon and allowed four earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out one. Still some tweaking to do, but he’ll be fine.
I’ll be back with a wrap-up from St. Lucie later on. Hope you MMO readers are enjoying the additional coverage…
About the Author: John Delcos
I am an active member of the BBWAA and have covered Major League Baseball in several capacities for over 20 years, including ten in New York working the Mets' and Yankees' beat. I covered the Baltimore Orioles for eight years and the Cleveland Indians before that. I currently serve as an editor and senior staff writer for Mets Merized Online. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 42 | 30 | .583 | - |
| Phillies | 35 | 37 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Nationals | 34 | 36 | .486 | 7.0 |
| Mets | 27 | 40 | .403 | 12.5 |
| Marlins | 22 | 48 | .314 | 19.0 |
Last updated: 06/19/2013
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Yea Venezuela tore Mets pitching up today. I found by accident that the Mets game was being broadcast via ESPN Deportes and after Niese left the game the place was dead silent.
Team Dominican beating up big time on the yankees as well… This WBC i think will be very, very competitive. Venezuela and RD will be the hands on favorite with USA sniffing around..
Yea I tend to agree. I just hope Puerto Rico can at least end up somewhere in the middle.
Not as bad as Met pitching is getting beat up though.
We’ve got 7 runs on just 5 hits.
They’ve got 13 runs on 17 hits.
Just saw where Lutz was hit in the head (helmet) be a pitch.
Think this is the 3rd Met batter that got hit today.
Wow, they really do need Johan.
I’m sure with FOX News bashing Venezuela non stop for the last 24 hours, the team was a little extra motivated.
Considering Chavez’s stance on baseball down there, I doubt it.
Off Topic: LMAO at the “7 Banned and Growing…” notice under the no insults, no profanity, no instigating banner.
Soon MMO might have it’s own jingle similar to this. http://youtu.be/u9u6yrsOPC4
Seriously, don’t you think that’s ridiculous? I’ve never seen any site do anything like that before. This is getting to be a bit too much. I guess Ty Cobb, Kirk Gibson, Whitey Herzog, Sal Bando and Mickey Mantle would be banned on MMO if they were still alive or posting here.
Why would they be posting on a fansite to begin with?
Kirk Gibson’s dead?
And, ya, I’m pretty sure Ty Cobb would get banned from a lot of places.
I think Whitey is still breathing too. Not sure on Bando but I think he is alive too.
Bando is alive and well.
I don’t find it ridiculous at all. I find it ridiculous that people can’t have meaningful discussions in the comments without retorting to the actions listed in in the banner. Truth be told, I almost stopped writing for MMO because the comment thread was a complete turn-off. I’m glad the site has taken steps to clean up the comment thread. And it’s working because I’m starting to see comments from a variety of new users who now feel comfortable commenting, and not the same four or five guys arguing over the same crap day in and day out. There is nothing worse than spending the time to write something and see that 100 out of 150 comments are nothing but guys arguing and fighting over something completely unrelated to the post…it’s disrespectful to the owner of the site, disrespectful to the writer, and disrespectful to the other readers, and if people want to do that they can go elsewhere.
“I find it ridiculous that people can’t have meaningful discussions in the comments without retorting to the actions listed in in the banner.”
This
This^^^ and That^^^
Agree 100%. I can´t stand sites where the threads are just a bunch of guys insulting each other. I much prefer interesting and respectful baseball discussions/debates. Differences of opinion are great, but no insults please.
Are you single?
LoL, You definitely have been away the past few days.
Read this post.
http://metsmerizedonline.com/2013/03/jeremy-hefner-wants-to-be-the-man.html
I like Niese’s attitude. It is Spring Training, a time to work on things. The only start that matters next is his first start of the season. Before that, all is warmup. I like how he is working into things and basing his progress on feel. Who cares about the stat line this time of year? If he was making his final “tune up” it might be of concern but there are still, what, 3+ weeks until the season starts.
I am expecting Niese to take another step forward this season and assert himself as a front end of the rotation guy (perhaps not an ace, but a nice #2).
John, shouldn’t Niese’s line/game highlights come at or near the beginning of the article? Not trying to give you a hard time or anything but it seems the writing style lacks structure. I’m not a writer of course but I’ve read enough and it seems your game recaps are all out of structure and i’m not sure if that’s the way to express it. I mean no harm here just wanted to get that off my chest that’s all.
14-10. Mets red-zone offense lacking today.
As always, I love your work John. Always had, especially when you were a beat writer for the Mets.
It was kind of understandable to me why our pitching wasn’t too good today, as many were pitching above their heads against a team consisting of the best Venezuela had to offer.
Very interesting to see that Deolis Guerra (the god of war in translation) was pitching against his former team 5 years later.
Which one Ares or Kratos?
Which one has the better changeup?
Ha! Well played.
I think it is great to see neise’s mature mentality he knows he will be heavily counted on and seems to enjoy the opportunity….. his extention was a huge piece for the teams future…..he can def handle the responsibility more than pelf two seasons ago…. what a mess he turned out to be!