Jon Niese was pulled from his final start of the season Friday night with an elevated heart rate. He exited with one out in the sixth inning, having not allowed a run while throwing just 66 pitches.
Niese has faced this issue in the past, namely on June 3, 2012 at home against the Cardinals and June 25, 2011 in a start against the Rangers at Arlington. Doctors had recommended he undergo an ablation procedure at the time, but was later advised it wasn’t needed.
“They [doctors] said it can come back at any moment, it just happens,” Niese said. “The last time it happened was two years ago. Once every two years I will take. It’s something that can always happen, and if it happened more often I would look to do something.”
Niese wasn’t too worried about it and seemed more interested in discussing his strong outing and his season in general.
“I took a huge step with my changeup this year,” he said. “I figured out how to pitch. Hopefully I can do some things to help my arm strength, and hopefully be able to pitch with my good stuff.”
Niese ends the season with a solid 3.40 ERA and 1.26 WHIP in 30 starts for the Mets this year, identical to his 2012 campaign. Despite a lower velocity, he maintained his 6.6 strikeout rate and improved his strikeout-to-walk rate from 3.0 to 2.2.
