Jon Niese, one of the odd men out in the Mets playoff rotation, looked to get acclimated to his new role on Tuesday night in Philadelphia. Niese entered in the sixth inning in relief of Bartolo Colon and provided mixed results in his first relief appearance since July 10, 2011.
The southpaw pitched 1.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits. Niese did pitch a scoreless sixth and got two quick outs in the seventh before running into trouble. He proceeded to allow two quick singles and was pulled and relieved by Erik Goeddel who allowed an RBI single to close the book on Niese’s night.
“As a starter, you have to face them three times,” Niese reflected. “Here you maybe only go through a lineup once, if that. You just go with what works. It’s going to be a learning process. It’s going to be something I’m going to have to get used to. It was a good step today.”
Of course being a reliever, you don’t always get to enter into a clean inning and sometimes if the situation calls for it, Niese may end up being the situational lefty and will need to get that one big out in a critical juncture of the game.
“I think getting him up and getting him in during the middle of an inning is probably going to be our next challenge,” Terry Collins stated after Tuesday night’s 4-3 loss to the Phillies.
Hopefully going forward Niese can provide more help in relief than harm as he seeks to be an important part of the team’s postseason roster as we head into October. His willingness to do whatever the Mets need him to do is a big plus. It shows the character that this team has, and their appreciation for the bigger picture and not just personal value.
Still, he’ll have to earn that spot and understand he won’t get it solely based on tenure.
