preGame: Mets vs. Braves
The Mets will face the in St. Lucie this afternoon.
The game will air live on 
, starting at 1 pm.
SS Jose Reyes will hit leadoff, followed by 2B Luis Castillo, 3B David Wright, OF Carlos Beltran, 1B Carlos Delgado, OF Ryan Church, C Raul Casanova, OF Endy Chavez and Jon Niese.
Niese will start for the Mets in place of Johan Santana, who is currently pitching in a minor-league game since he’ll face the Braves next week in the regular season.
According to eyewitnesses, with Brian Schneider behind the plate, Santana has not allowed a run through five innings of work.
Robert Parnell will start tomorrow in place of Pedro Martinez, who will also pitch in a minor-league game.
…Update…1:05 pm…
…i’m eager to watch niese…so, i will live blog my thoughts as the game rolls on…stay tuned…
…Update…1:19 pm…
In the first inning, Niese allowed one hit, no runs and no walks.
…he’s a solid, strong-looking kid…nice fastball, which does not seem to have a ton of movement, but he throws all over the zone, which may or may not be intentional…he has a nice, big, looping curve ball, which appears to be a 12–6 like Barry Zito, who he sort of reminds me of…
…Update…1:31 pm…
In the second inning, Niese allowed no hits, no runs and no walks.
…niese clearly needs more work, and should not be considered for the fifth starter’s spot…don’t get me wrong, he’s a good, young pitcher, but he looks to be very inconsistent, which is totally understandable…he has a lot of arm action, and in this particular game it looks like he’s aiming and forcing the ball a bit…
…also, he’s rushing, futzing with the rubber and looks a bit uncomfortable, despite having not allowed a run in two innings, which is a good sign…again, i can see why people like him, because he is certainly aggressive with a lot of skills, but he still needs work…
…Update…1:41 pm…
In the third inning, Niese allowed no runs, no hits and one walk while striking out one to end the inning.
…he needs a better change-up, though he really has a nice, smooth, deceptive curve ball, which is exciting…his fastball has ranged from 87– to 91–mph fastball, and has generated a few swing-and-misses…
…Update…1:54 pm…
In the fourth inning, Niese allowed no runs, one hits and no walks.
…he is still all over the strike zone, however what i initially thought was him rushing is actually just a very quick style…he works fast…it appears to be irritating the hitters…
…if he can keep changing speeds with his fastball, remain aggressive as he is, plus use his curve ball, which is ‘strong to quite strong,’ he’s going to be effective…
…Update…2:23 pm…
In the fifth inning, Niese got in to trouble, allowing the bases to be loaded, while giving up two runs, before being pulled mid-inning.
…nevertheless, i am impressed by his stick-with-it-ness…he kept working…he fell behind in the count a few times, but battled back, stayed aggressive and did his best…he was not just slinging the ball, but looking to get a grounder…all in all, despite a lot of balls, and not enough strikes, it was a decent day for niese, who is worthy of the hype…
