The Importance of Niese

We've wrung our hands all winter about Ollie, Big Pelf, Maine, and Johan, but the simple fact is that those are four pitchers who will comprise 80% of the Mets starting rotation.

It's the other 20% that's the real uncertainty.

Sure, the first four have question marks, especially Perez and Maine, but as long as they are healthy on Opening Day, the are the first four guys in the rotation.

Which brings us back the the SP5 and Jonathan Niese.

The Mets would love for Niese to claim the 5 spot for himself. He is a crafty pitcher with the best curveball in the organization, solid control, and he has worked hard on his cutter to suplement a rather average big-league fastball.

As John Harper reports in the Daily News, Niese looked sharp in his first outing of the year, and Manager Jerry Manuel was suitably impressed.

"Very impressive," said Jerry Manuel. "It was good to see because he's a huge piece (of the puzzle) for me."

Niese is now fully healed from a gruesome hamstring injury and dreams of landing the starting job that was his for a short time last year. "It feels good to be in one piece," said the young lefty.

The nice part about Niese is that he offers yet another look in what could be a solid starting rotation.

Santana is one of the very best in the game and features the best changeup in the National League. Mike Pelfrey comes in with hard stuff and a sinker that induces ground ball after ground ball. Ollie has the arm angle and an array of pitches that produces strikeouts. Maine is the most traditional of the bunch, but when he's on he can provide a solid 6 innings on any given night.

And then there's Niese and that curveball....for a back end of the rotation pitcher he can be a real gamer and give the Mets a chance to win each and every time he steps on the rubber.

With good health it can be a very solid one through five and not only help erase the nightmare of 2009, but also keep the wolves away from Omar Minaya and his inability to land an SP2 in the off-season.

For now, we wait and hope...Nelson Figueroa is the real fallback position (forget about Fernando Nieve right now), and for a safety valve, Figgy's OK. That said, Niese has a much higher upside and could be the best surprise of 2010.