Over the weekend the New York Yankees added Jon Niese to
their minor league camp after signing the former New York Mets product to a
minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. The left-hander can
start or he can relieve and will look to latch on in either spot in the Yankees
starting rotation in 2017 so now is a good a time as any to meet him, don’t you
say? This is Meet a Prospect: The Jon Niese Edition.
Jonathan Joseph Niese was born on October 27, 1986 to
Jeffrey and Annette Niese in Lima, Ohio on the same day that the New York Mets
won their second, and last to date, World Series. It only seemed like fate that
Niese went on to later spend time with those same New York Mets as well as the
Pittsburgh Pirates in his MLB career before recently joining the Yankees on his
minor league deal.
Niese attended Defiance High School in Defiance, Ohio where
he was brought up where he played soccer all four years as well as baseball.
While at Defiance High the left-hander was teammates with former Los Angeles
Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley before being drafted in the 2005 MLB First
Year Players Draft by the New York Mets in the seventh round.
Niese began his professional career with the Gulf Coast
League Mets that same year before getting all the way to Triple-A by the 2008
season pitching seven innings allowing just one run for the Zephyrs. Niese
impressed so much in that start that he was promoted to the Major Leagues in
September of 2008 and he even made his MLB debut on September, 2 against the
Milwaukee Brewers. Niese promptly gave up a home run to the first batter that
he faced, Rickie Weeks, becoming the first pitcher in Mets history to achieve
the feat. Niese bounced back and forth between the minor leagues and the Major
Leagues in 2009 before his first full season as a major league starter came
during the 2010 season.
Niese finished his first campaign as a starter with a 9-10
record with a 4.20 ERA in 173.2 innings pitched. Niese’s best start came on
June 10 against the San Diego Padres when he threw a complete game one-hit
shutout in a Mets victory. Niese remained in the Mets rotation for the 2011
season where he finished with another unimpressive 11-11 record with a 4.40 ERA
in just 157.1 innings pitched. Niese saw his season come to an end prematurely
when a rib cage muscle ended his season on August 23rd. That was
enough for the Mets though as they signed Niese to a five-year deal worth $25.5
million on April 4th of 2012. Niese would finish the season with his
best performance to date posting a 13-9 record with a 3.40 ERA including his
first season where he did not completely fall apart and break down once the
calendar turned to September.
Niese was named the New York Mets Opening Day starter for
the 2013 season after Johan Santana suffered an injury but Santana wasn’t the
only Mets lefty to miss some time due to injury that season. Niese missed
several starts in 2013 due to a rotator cuff injury and the 2014 season didn’t
start out much better for him either. Niese began the 2014 season on the
disabled list due to elbow inflammation in his pitching elbow. Niese would
return from the injury only to last a whole 66 innings before being forced back
on the disabled list later on in the season. Niese did finish the season with
30 starts and a 3.40 ERA but the injury bug had hit him multiple times that
season leaving many inside the organization to wonder if this was a sign of
what’s to come.
Niese has a relatively uneventful, although it was healthy
after making adjustments to his pitching motion during spring training in order
to take some of the strain off his pitching elbow, season in 2015 but that did
not stop the Mets from trading him to the Pittsburgh Pirates on December 9th
for Neil Walker. Niese spent time in the Pirates rotation until the All Star
Break when the Pirates placed Niese in their bullpen. Niese was not long for
the Pirates though as the team then traded him back to the Mets on August 1st
in exchange for Antonio Bastardo. Niese lasted a whole one start before being
placed back on the disabled list after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his
knee.
The Mets declined their option on the contract after the
2016 season paying him a $500,000 buyout and thus granting him free agency.
Niese spent the winter looking for a guaranteed job and even told the New York
Daily News that he was shocked he could not find a MLB guaranteed deal this
offseason before he signed the minor league deal with the Yankees. It doesn’t
matter how he got here or what happened before though, especially on a minor
league deal, as long as he makes the most of the opportunity while he is here.
So here’s our best wishes and hopes going out to Niese, I hope you make the
team if you can truly help the team compete in 2017 and beyond.
Welcome to the organization and, more importantly, welcome
to the family.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)