The Mets starter on Tuesday

Jon Niese, a LHP, will be taking the hill opposite Manny Parra on Tuesday. He's a young prospect of the Mets that I believe will be making his MLB debut vs. the Crew. Here's what Baseball America had to say about him prior to the season. He started the year as the Mets #8 prospect, but in reality he was higher than that because of the Johan Santana trade:

He was born on Oct. 27, 1986 and is 6-3, 180, drafted in the 7th round out of HS in 2005.

Ohio's first-ever back-to-back state high school player of the year-he attended the same HS as Chad Billingsley-Niese signed with New York after a recruiting call from Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter. After getting hit hard early in the season, Niese went 4-1, 2.18 with 42 Ks in 45 innings over his final eight starts, including six innings of one-hit ball in the high Class A Florida State League playoffs. Niese uses a fastball that sits at 91-92 mph early in games, then attacks hitters with an improved curveball that has become a plus pitch as he has learned to locate it. He's figured out how to throw his changeup with the same arm speed he uses for his fastball, and it has similar sink and tailing action. While he has improved his conditioning, Niese remains inconsistent in terms of maintaining his velocity. He's still learning to pitch inside with his fastball and remain aggressive with his changeup. His competitiveness can work against him at times. After his strong finish, Niese is ready to hit Double-A as a 21-year-old. He's still probably two years away from making an impact in New York's rotation.

My initial take? "Still learning to pitch inside? Mr. Niese, meet Ryan Braun!"