Ben Shpigel in the Times wrote the piece I wanted to write about Fernando Nieve today. With his win over the Cardinals, Nieve became the first Mets pitcher to win his first three starts since Jorge Sosa in 2007. Shpigel writes:
Through three starts, Nieve looks like the Mets’ savior. Through his first three starts, so did Sosa. Then he declined and, by the end of 2007, he was the symbol for all that was wrong with their bullpen.
Jerry Manuel, as he essentially must do, explained why Nieve is better than Sosa, but….?
Sosa was a one pitch wonder that year, Nieve is better than that.
Even is Nieve is on a similar path, he has faced the Yankees, Rays, and Cardinals. And he will face the Brewers, Phillies, and Reds if he stays in the rotation. Only one start against a team he is likely to face again the rest of the year. In fact he could stay through the rotation into August and not face the same team twice.
I’m sure advanced scouts will do their job, and word will get around about how to face Nieve. But there is still a good chance he will be effective in whatever role he is used in. Unlike Sosa in 2007.
Nieve was a solid prospect in Houston’s organization.. he had good potential but they decided to dump him (or took a dumb risk by waiving him) after he struggled coming back from TJ surgery .. I liked this pickup by Minaya when it happened, I figured he MIGHT find his way into the Mets’ bullpen with this live fastball and with good minor league numbers… I could not have guessed he would have made 3 consecutive very good starts, shutting down good ballclubs.