Niese, a seventh-round selection of
the Mets in last year's draft, is
finishing a stellar season at
Class-A, his first full professional
season.
The former Ohio high school standout
is coming up on the 120-inning
plateau, falling one out shy through
his no-decision performance in
Wednesday's 3-1 loss to the
BlueClaws.
As such, the Mets are beginning to
take measures to guard against a
tired arm.
In 24 games at Hagerstown this
season, Niese is 11-8 with a 3.69
ERA. He has walked 62 and struck out
128, allowing 49 earned runs and 110
hits for a .243 opponent batting
average.
In his previous start on Aug. 10,
Niese allowed seven runs (five
earned) over six innings in a 10-3
drubbing against Greensboro.
The seven runs allowed by Niese tied
a season high (July 14 vs. Hickory).
Last year, Niese pitched 24 2/3
innings for the Gulf Coast Mets after
signing in July, going 1-0 with a
3.65 ERA in seven games.
State of the Suns: The
struggling Suns enter Thursday's play
with a 20-31 record, placing them
seventh among the eight clubs in the
South Atlantic League Northern
division. Hagerstown trails
division-leading Lakewood by 15.5
games.
Hagerstown leaderboard -
offense: Nick Evans' 15 home runs
are tied with Binghamton's Jay Caligiuri for second-most in the
system ... Evans' 64 RBI are second
to St. Lucie's Mike Carp (74) ...
Sean Henry's 27 stolen bases are
second to Binghamton's Carlos Gomez
(31) ... Jonel Pacheco's 19 stolen
bases are fifth.
Hagerstown leaderboard -
pitching: Jonathon Niese's 3.69
ERA is 10th in the system ... Niese's
11 victories tie him with
Binghamton's Michael Devaney and
Norfolk's Evan MacLane for the system
lead ... Kevin Tomasiewicz's 15 saves
rank third in the system ... Niese's
128 strikeouts are the most of any
Mets minor leaguer.
ON THE RISE
Outfielder Sean Henry was promoted to
the Suns last week and has hit safely
in four of his first six starts at
Class-A.
Henry, who turns 21 on Friday, was
originally drafted as a shortstop,
and after a brief dalliance with
second base, has been converted into
a speedy outfielder.
A 20th round selection in 2004, Henry had been playing with Rookie-league Kingsport, where he was batting .277 with four homers, 27 RBI and 23 steals in 40 games.
TOUGH TIMES
Infielder Hector Pellot may have suffered a season-ending injury on Aug. 12, attempting to complete a double play in the fourth inning of a 6-5 loss to Greensboro.
Pellot, a fourth round pick in 2005, batted just .189 with two home runs and 16 RBI in 100 games at Hagerstown this year.