Despite being up 1.5 games entering play yesterday, this was an important game for the Mets. They had dropped two tough games in a row and they needed to re-bound quick. Niese pitched three great innings, people were hoping that he would throw a complete game.
Then Niese had his bad inning.
First pitch single.
Two run Home run.
Line drive single.
Then, Dan Warthen came out and Niese buckled down, his fastball velocity increased after Warthen’s visit, and he got a slow ground-ball double play. The call was overturned at first, but Niese wasn’t thrown off, he quickly got two outs and got out of the inning. Niese then completed three more fine innings. Seven innings and two earned runs, a quality start, and more importantly, he kept his team in the game, and stopped the bleeding in his “meltdown” inning, that he has on a regular basis.
Jon’s future with the Mets is currently un-known. Going into 2016, the Mets rotation should be Harvey, deGrom, Syndergaard, Matz and Wheeler. That’s five. Niese doesn’t fit into the equation, he’s the odd man out; yet, Niese isn’t a #6 starter. There are over 5 teams in MLB that would consider Jon the “ace” of their staff. If Jon is impressive moving forward, we should get a very good return.