PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — The lakes around South Florida’s Treasure Coast will have one fewer angler this season.
Former Mets pitcher Jonathon Niese finally found a home after a failed run at free agency in the offseason. That home? Well, it’s still New York, but in another borough, as he signed a minor league deal with the Yankees earlier this week. The 30-year-old left-hander pitched for the Mets from 2008 until mid-2016, when he was shipped to the Pittsburgh Pirates after going 8-6 with a 4.91 ERA over 23 games (18 starts).
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His former catcher with the Mets, Travis d’Arnaud, was sad to see him go last season, but happy for his friend that he landed on his feet. But he’s still missing one of his favorite fishing buddies.
“Great teammate, funny guy. He likes to fish and I like to fish too,” d’Arnaud said. “We lived down the block from each other here in Florida. We fished right in our neighborhood. There’s a couple good lakes and we caught up to eight-pounders, large-mouth bass. It was fun.”
d’Arnaud has gone fishing without Niese a few times during spring training in recent weeks, but hasn’t had the same luck he had with him. Could his poor luck possibly be because Niese is in Tampa and not Port St. Lucie?
d’Arnaud just laughed.
“He’s very good with team camaraderie and likes cracking jokes. And he’s got a great family too.”
On the mound, d’Arnaud said Niese is fiery competitor who doesn’t back down to hitters and can still throw strikes.
“He knows how to pitch, he knows his repertoire,” d’Arnaud said. “He can make the ball move all different ways, he can speed it up and slow it down. He knows how to set hitters up, he’s smart, good at reading swings, so he’s a very intelligent teammate…
“He isn’t a afraid of high-pressure moments.”
The scouting report on Niese? Likes pressure on the mound and on the water.
Abbey Mastracco may be reached at amastracco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @abbeymastracco. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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