PORT ST. LUCIE — Jon Niese is all-in, too. On both his beloved Ohio State Buckeyes and the Mets.
Niese was at the national championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, when Ohio State shocked Oregon, 42-20, to win the first College Football Playoff title.
He said the depth of the Mets pitching staff reminds him of his favorite football team.
“Kind of like the Ohio State quarterbacks,’’ Niese said Thursday in the dugout at Tradition Field. “We have an abundance of them, too, and they’re all good. It’s not a bad thing.’’
The Mets are going to need every arm they can get this year to break the string of six straight losing seasons.
Yes, the Mets wanted to do more in the offseason, but they were not able to bring in another bat, so they will rely heavily on the young pitchers even more than they anticipated — and it all starts with Matt Harvey, coming back from Tommy John surgery.
Then there’a Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler, Niese, Bartolo Colon and young Noah Syndergaard on deck, along with Long Island lefty Steven Matz.
Niese wants to remain a Met because of the progress he feels the team is making and said he has been told the Mets will not trade him.
“They told me they didn’t want to move me,’’ Niese said. “I’d love to stay. I don’t see myself going anywhere.’’
Not right now at least.
“I think we have a really good shot,’’ Niese said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of competition this year in the East. It’s going to be a tough division. But I think we have all the tools to really compete. I think if we keep making the jumps and guys are getting more experienced and we’re getting the right pieces in place, we’re kind of finding an identity on our team, and I think that’s key.’’
Niese, 28, said his body and arm haven’t felt this good since 2008. He admitted the pain in his shoulder was significant last spring and that he probably rushed it out of spring training and should have waited an extra month before kicking it in gear.
“This year, it’s night and day from last year,’’ Niese said. “Last year at this time it felt like there were knives in my shoulder. This year it feels normal.’’
Knives in the shoulder is never a good feeling for a pitcher.
“We have great starting pitching, our bullpen is getting an identity,’’ added Niese, who was 9-11 with a 3.40 ERA last year. “We’re figuring out who fits where in each role. And our offense keeps getting better and better each year with different pieces being brought in.
“Sandy [Alderson, general manager], he has kind of a method to his madness. He didn’t bring everybody in at once, he kind of built it up year by year, understanding that our pitching staff was going to be built up.’’
Niese also cleared the air on a published report from November that said in his final start of the season the fiery lefty said “F— you’’ to manager Terry Collins because Collins questioned Niese after he flied out when given the bunt sign.
“That was totally fabricated,’’ Niese said. “It got kind of heated there for a little bit, but no way did I ever say that. I would never say that to Terry. I respect Terry. Him and I have kind of , almost like a father-son relationship, where he lets me know his feelings, I let him know my feelings.’’
Remember, Niese is from Defiance, Ohio. He never is shy expressing his thoughts and said that if the same bunt situation comes up again, he may swing the bat in a slashing manner if corner infielders are charging.
Collins, who called Niese when the report surfaced, also told The Post Niese never dropped an F-bomb on him, saying if he had, there would have been a fight.
Niese and his fellow pitchers promise they will put up a fight in the NL East.