This season, Jon Niese has been the Pirates worst starting pitcher. Even though out of habit some people might say that it has been Jeff Locke, it has in fact been Niese. The Pirates traded for Niese expecting him to be their number three starter, and he needs to begin to pitch like it.
On the season Jon Niese has pitched 33 1/3 innings in six starts. In those 33 1/3 innings Niese has posted a 5.94 ERA, 5.74 FIP, 4.78 xFIP, and is averaging 1.89 HR/9 and 3.78 BB/9. While Niese’s BABIP of .330 does indicate he is due for some better results, the rest of his metrics indicate that there may not be much improvement on the horizon.