He’s a back end of the rotation guy and certainly not someone who attracts the kind of attention of Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom or Noah Syndergaard.
His future in the Mets organization is uncertain beyond 2015 despite being under contract for $9.05 million for 2016 with club options for 2017 and 2018.
Despite being one of the Rodney Dangerfields of the Mets rotation, Jon Niese is putting up solid numbers in 2015 and has quietly moved up the ranks among All-Time Mets pitchers.
For his career, Niese’s 154 starts puts him 13th in franchise history and, barring injury, he should pass David Cone’s 169 starts for 10th place.
His 738 strikeouts is already 9th all time,although he still has a ways before he reaches Jon Matlack’s 1,023 for 8th.
His 921.2 innings are 15th in franchise history and he should pass Tom Glavine’s 1,005.1 innings this year to move into 11th all time.
Niese’s 55 wins are 14th in Mets history, and another 12 victories (which is not out of reach this season), will pass Steve Trachel’s 66 to also put him into the top 10.
Niese isn’t going to win a Cy Young award anytime soon. We’re not asking him to be one. He doesn’t even have to keep on pitching to his team-best 1.95 ERA and currently 7th best in MLB. We just need him to be what he is – a capable and valuable lefty in the rotation.
