During Tuesday’s intrasquad game, Jon Niese pitched two scoreless innings, facing the minimum with two strikeouts.
Terry Collins noted after the game Niese’s arm slot is a lot higher and he’s throwing more over the top than he did during the 2014 season.
“His arm angle is much better, more velocity with his arm speed,” Collins explained to reporters on Wednesday. “He spent all winter making sure he was healthy because he doesn’t want to go through those shoulder issues.”
After his outing, Niese told reporters he knew something was wrong with his shoulder after his initial bullpen session in Spring Training last year, but noted those problems are far behind him.
“My intrasquad last year, I don’t think I threw over 80 mph,” Niese said on Wednesday. “My shoulder and elbow felt great and my body feels good.”
This was the biggest takeaway from the outing – he feels strong and has no discomfort in an arm which has failed him to a degree over the last two years.
I couldn’t see the radar gun while he was throwing, but it was clear he had more life on his fastball than he had at any given point last year. And, as you can see in the photo in this post – which I took yesterday – his arm angle is much higher than it was at any point during the course of last season. Sure, its only one meaningless start in early March, but the fact he said he never felt 100 percent last year, and now he does is a big step (and a relief) for him and the club.
While Niese made 30 starts in 2014, he did not pitch between July 4 and July 21 after being placed on the disabled list with inflammation in the A/C joint of his left shoulder.
Niece’s average fastball velocity dipped from 90.1 mph in 2013 to 88.5 mph in 2014, according to FanGraphs.com.
Just Mets 