The Mets’ loss last July 24 at Citi Field will probably go down as the night Michael Conforto debuted. But Jon Niese sees it as another milestone: the beginning of the end of his time in blue-and-orange.
In the latest alibi issued by the exiled lefty, Niese — traded to the Pirates this winter for new Mets second baseman Neil Walker — said he regrets making his scheduled start that evening in Queens while his wife, Leah, was on the verge of giving birth to the couple’s second child in Ohio.
Facing the emotional tumult of being away from Leah (he learned in the second inning she had gone into labor, and later watched the birth of a boy named Tatum via FaceTime) as well as a tricky Dodgers lineup, Niese turned in a disastrous three-inning, six-run outing.
“I should never have played that game … That’s when it all went downhill,” Niese told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Wednesday in Bradenton, Fla. “I think that’s the thing guys don’t really realize with sabermetrics. If I wouldn’t have pitched that one game, I probably would have stayed the course, stayed in a rhythm, but that just kind of knocked me off.”
Niese’s pre- and post-partum splits: In 18 starts before Tatum’s birth, Niese had a 3.36 ERA and opponents posted a .731 OPS. In his final 15 appearances (including four relief appearances), he posted a 5.46 ERA and allowed an .821 OPS.
Ironically, his scheduled opponent that night, Zack Greinke, was in a nearly identical predicament and left the Dodgers in time to see his son born. “It sucked that I wasn’t there at the hospital,” Niese said.
A struggling Niese eventually was demoted to the bullpen once it became clear he couldn’t crack the postseason rotation. Having previously talked up the Pirates’ infield defense in a passive-aggressive jab, Niese continued his efforts to rationalize the bumpy end of his tenure by denouncing the Mets’ use of a six-man rotation last season. That alignment could return this summer when Zack Wheeler rejoins the club.
“I’m actually kind of relieved I’m not going to be a part of that,” Niese said. “I was never a fan of the six-man rotation. You just never really got into a groove or a nice routine. … They think the longer you go without throwing, the more rest you’ll get and the better you’ll feel. For me, that really wasn’t the case.”