Mets' Niese confident entering season debut
By Jonathon Niese is coming back to the scene of his gruesome, season-ending injury, but he has no trepidation about pitching at Citi Field or just pitching at all after a strong spring.. "There's really no second thoughts because it's here at Citi Field," Niese said before last night's game against Florida. "I'm going to go out and treat it like it's any other game.". Niese crumpled to the mound after throwing a warm-up pitch with a torn hamstring tendon in his right leg on Aug. 5, his 2009 season over after only five starts following his recall from Buffalo.. There was some hesitation on Niese's part coming into spring training following surgery and rehab, but he proved he's recovered from that ugly injury. He's also featuring a new pitch, a cutter that dives in on righthanded hitters.. "He's a guy in spring training who was one of our better pitchers," Jerry Manuel said. "He's a guy who's added to his repertoire with the cutter. We'll see where he is tomorrow.". "It's a good new pitch for me," Niese said. "It's an extra pitch to keep in the hitter's mind and keep him off balance.". Niese will be making only his ninth big-league start Thursday night , which seems odd because he's pitched over parts of the last two seasons. Manuel slotted Niese into the No. 3 spot in the rotation so the Mets could alternate their lefthanders, with Mike Pelfrey starting Friday and Oliver Perez Saturday.. Manuel also liked Niese's spring more.. "It really doesn't matter if he's in the No. 3 spot or not," Manuel said. "I expect him to pitch well, like he's pitched all spring.". Said Niese: "Jerry put it pretty good: When it's our time to pitch out there, we're all No. 1 starters. We'll take it as that.". Of course, the door is open for anyone behind Johan Santana to take the reins and be a reliable starter. John Maine did not exactly impress in his five innings last night, and the shaky histories of Pelfrey and Perez leave the 23-year-old Niese as a good hope for dependability in the middle of the rotation.. And his leg is not a concern.. "It's great. I can go deep in the game," he said. "That was a concern of mine in spring training - how far I could go in the game, if it would start hurting me later in the game. But it feels good."
