What is Jon Niese? Is he our promising young lefty that will emerge as a very solid pitcher for us? Is he a guy who is very good at times, but somewhat inconsistent? Is he a guy who will pitch to a 4.00 ERA every year, or will he start to put it together and solidify the number 3 or 4 spot in our rotation?
2011 was not a season of marketed improvement for Niese. Niese shows flashes, but often times it is followed by a poor outing or a bad inning. In his first two professional seasons he has finished with ERA’s of 4.20 and 4.40. He ha given up 417 hits in just 370 big league innings, and even though he does not walk a lot of batters he still has a high WHIP as a result. Niese has made some improvements as he has added a cutter and is working on keeping the ball down more consistently. His record thus far is 22-23, and if he can not improve on a career 1.46 WHIP I have a hard time believing that he can be more than a .500 pitcher. With the numbers he is putting up so far ...
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