RADIO
After putting together the weakest season of his career in 2015, starting pitcher Jon Niese was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Neil Walker. Pittsburgh’s newly acquired left-hander, who will be 29 this year, posted a 4.13 ERA and 1.40 WHIP along with 113 Ks in 176.2 innings last season. Sustaining a partially torn rotator cuff in 2013, Niese saw his average fastball velocity fall from 90.5mph in 2012 to 88.3mph in 2014. Improving in 2015, Niese averaged 89.2mph on his heaters.
Despite the fastball improvement, Niese’s K/9, which dropped from the mid-7s in 2010-2012 to the mid-6s in 2013-2014, further plummeted to an unsightly 5.76 in 2015. The southpaw’s SwSt%, which has hovered in the 7-8% range throughout his career, fell to an unimpressive 5.8% last season. Niese compensated by maintaining a career-high 54.5% GB rate in 2015.
Recent history is not on Niese’s side, but Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage has a knack for resurrecting careers. Francisco Liriano, AJ Burnett, Edinson Volquez, and J.A. Happ are among the players who have significantly improved under Searage’s tutelage. Niese will cost next to nothing on draft day but has a chance to rise from irrelevance in Pittsburgh.
