PHOENIX — Jon Niese has gone from Opening Day starter to almost the Mets’ forgotten man.
But the lefty might look familiar to teammates today, when he is scheduled to make his first start since going on the disabled list with a partially torn left rotator cuff on June 21.
Niese, who is 3-6 with a 4.32 ERA, likely will be limited to 90-95 pitches against the Diamondbacks.
“I think it’s important for Jon Niese mentally to know that his arm is OK,” manager Terry Collins said before the Mets’ 4-1 victory over the Diamondbacks last night. “If he finishes [the year] strong, he knows he’s back and will be strong with his reps over the wintertime.”
The Mets were without a lefty starter in Niese’s absence, and Collins said it will be nice to have a different look in the rotation.
“Especially when you run Dillon Gee and [Jeremy] Hefner at the same team, they’re such similar type of guys, it’s nice to break up that pattern of having similar guys from one side throwing,” Collins said. “That lefty breaks it up.”
* Collins has scrapped the idea of potentially placing Zack Wheeler in the bullpen for the final few weeks of the season. Wheeler, who has pitched 125 2/3 innings combined for Triple-A Las Vegas and the Mets this season, is expected to be shut down after about 180-190 innings.
“[Wheeler] is a guy that if you get him up and get him warmed up, you better get him in,” Collins said. “And so I don’t know if [the bullpen] is the best way to look at this kid late in the summer.”
* The Mets had their third baserunning blunder in two games, with Wilmer Flores getting nailed attempting to go from first-to-third with two outs in the fourth inning. But before the game Collins said he has been pleased with the team’s baserunning overall this season.
“I attribute that to the fact my third-base coach is extremely aggressive,” Collins said, referring to Tim Teufel. “It forces people to make plays, other teams to make plays. We’ve scored a lot of extra runs, which has kept us in games and helped us win games. I think [Teufel] has done a very good job.”
* Paul Goldschmidt’s ninth-inning home run on Friday gave the Mets their 10th walkoff loss of the season, which ranked second in the major leagues behind the Marlins’ 12, entering last night.
Goldschmidt, who hit a solo blast against Scott Atchison on Friday, joined Ryan Zimmerman, Kevin Frandsen and Freddie Freeman as players who have ended games against the Mets with homers this season.