'I actually feel just about as good, or better, than I felt at the beginning of the year,' Niese said after the game. 'Definitely better than I felt in May; I was really struggling with dead arm.'
Niese improved to 10-6 with an ERA of 3.49 in 152 innings this season.
'It was just another of those nights where everything felt good and [Josh Thole] called a great game,' Niese said. 'We had the game plan of working in and out and we just executed pitches and it worked out.'
Michael Baron, MetsBlog.com
Ever since the fourth inning of his start against the Marlins last week, Niese has seemed like a different pitcher. As I said yesterday, he had either been relying on either his cutter or his curveball, and the opposition clearly had a better idea of how to attack him. But since that rough inning, he has begun to mix his four seamer, cutter, and curveball. Now he is using both his curve and his cutter in any count, he's throwing them for strikes, and while he doesn't get many swings and misses, he gets a lot of called strikes due to that unpredictability. Obviously, his command has helped him find this success regardless of what pitch he throws - he has now walked two or less batters in 14 straight starts. But his improved approach has led to a greater ability to avert major damage and to stymie threats in general. That's a key growth point for Niese, and something I hope continues for not just the remainder of the season, but into next season as well.