After Saturday’s 9-5 loss to the Miami Marlins, manager Terry Collins told reporters that he’s concerned with what he’s been seeing from lefthander Jon Niese.
“I’m concerned because I have yet to see him in my time here ever pitch where he makes the number of mistakes he’s made.”
Collins is worried about Niese’s lack of effectiveness with his two-seamer and the precipitous drop in his groundball rate, something that was once a strength for him.
Niese (3-5) struggled through four innings against Miami, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits including two home runs off the bats of J.T. Realmuto and arch nemesis Giancarlo Stanton.
That is now four consecutive starts in which Niese has allowed four earned runs or more, and it has seen his ERA skyrocket from 1.95 to 4.42 in that span.
“It’s frustrating more than anything because my arm feels great”, Niese said. “My body feels great.”
The problem is that the velocity is normal, the delivery appears the same, but his pitches are flat. His curve no longer has the sharp late break that made the pitch so effective for him.
The Mets have lost six of his last seven starts, and with the team fighting for a wild card spot they can ill-afford to keep sending an ineffective Niese out there every four days, or five days, whatever the case may be.
Compounding matters and making it even more frustrating is that the Mets have a very viable option in Steven Matz who is dominating in Triple-A and seemingly has nothing left to prove in Las Vegas.
Matz tossed another gem in his last start to improve to 6-2 on the season. The hard-throwing lefty hurled seven scoreless innings, allowing just four baserunners and striking out seven.
Matz now leads the Pacific Coast League with a 1.99 ERA (min. 40 IP), and ranks first in wins (6), strikeouts (67), K/9 Rate (9.7), and Batting Average Against (.198).
There’s not a better pitcher in the entire league right now, and the only thing holding Matz back is a spot in the rotation. If Niese doesn’t find his groove anytime soon, he may just give Steven Matz the opportunity he’s been waiting for.
