Mets starter Jon Niese who has struggled of late, including last nights performance where he lasted only four innings, giving up seven hits and five runs (four earned), including a solo home run by Giancarlo Stanton in the third and a two-run shot by J.T. Realmuto in the fourth.
In the month of May, Niese's numbers are ugly... He is 1-4 with a 5.56 ERA.
"I'm concerned," Mets manager Terry Collins said of Niese. "I have yet to see him, in my time here, pitch with [as many] mistakes as he's made . . . It's just not him. [Pitching coach Dan Warthen] has been trying to get his two-seam back working and it hasn't been, so we've got some work ahead."
Niese could be pitching through a injury in which he has seen in the past. Niese has battled back from several arm injuries, and other back ailments. The Mets have to figure out if it's mechanical or a possible injury that he could be covering up.
The Mets are known to let pitchers pitch through injuries before they ultimately cave in. IE: Wheeler, Santana, Harvey to name a few..
The Mets, who currently own a 27-23 record and sit 1.5 games out of first place behind the Washington Nationals. They find themselves in a unusual situation, they have too many starting pitchers for their rotation.
The Mets are expected to have a six man rotation with Dillon Gee coming back from his own setbacks.. Dillon Gee expected to comeback this week could mean Niese's spot in rotation could be in jeopardy, if they find something is wrong with him.
Gee has been good and has been overlooked in the Mets rotation since they've had early success with Bartolo Colon, Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and now Noah Syndergaard there. Gee has been a hard luck pitcher going 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA.
Gee could be the odd man out eventually with the growing of prospect Steven Matz, who is on the rise. The Mets could elect trade either Niese or Gee, if they can find a fit.
Matz has been awesome in Vegas for Pitching Coach and Ex-Met Frank Viola (Another Lefty). He is 6-2 with a 1.99 ERA in 9 starts. He has only allowed 45 hits in 63.1 innings. What make Matz more interesting is Vegas has been known to favor hitters than pitchers, but has overcome that.
It's only a matter of time before we see Matz in the Mets rotation. We just have to see what happens with Niese and Gee before we see the Long Island Native in Blue and Orange.