Narrow Left Wing Conspiracy

Mike Pelfrey’s been re-signed, so that’s a load off our minds. If we didn’t have the tall wonder’s shortcomings on which to dwell, what starter’s lack of progress would obsess us ahead of Spring Training? Jon Niese’s probably, which seems a little quick, considering he’s only 25 and has yet to make more than 30 starts in a single season. Non-pitching injuries seem to have a nasty habit of finding and disabling him, the latest of them a right-side muscle strain that knocked him out in August last year. Before departing for the year, he was more competent than dominant most outings, maybe a little shy of real consistency. His ERA (and ERA+) was off a bit from 2010 though his WHIP was a little better than it had been. Overall, his pre-injury 2011 indicated a Mets lefty starter who has the potential to improve. But history indicates he’s doomed. It’s not his history, mind you, but the history of homegrown, lefthanded Mets starters. By having been around for fragments of 2008 and 2009 an...