Jon Niese (SP, NYM) - Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in Deeper Leagues

ANALYSIS: Upon being placed on the disabled list with a shoulder injury in early July, Niese's ERA stood at 2.96 (the latest in an MLB season he had ever had a sub-3.00 ERA). The 27-year-old has improved dramatically since coming into the big leagues, and is on pace for his third straight season with an ERA under 4.00. The improvement has come with less reliance on his four-seam fastball and additional off-speed pitches, namely the cutter. Including his start on Saturday night, Niese has 14 quality starts in 19 games started, one of which was cut short due to injury. The Mets have been able to rely on his each and every start. He was a little shaky in his first outing back from his injury, giving up four earned runs on 11 hits over six frames, but that shouldn't be of too much concern. Adding Niese in deep mixed leagues should be a no-brainer, and if he bounces back and continues to pitch like he had been in his next start or two, he will become an immediate add in most leagues, except for extremely shallow ones.