Jon Niese has gone through a complete transformation so far this year. Somehow, he got velocity that I don’t think any of us knew that he had. He got stronger and has really become a great pitcher. Don’t get me wrong through this, he has a great cutter, but with every game it is the same formula. He starts out throwing his fastball  in the first inning and hits 92 to occasionally as high as 95MPH. However right after the first inning (maybe the 2nd), he simply abandons the pitch and uses his cutter. His out pitch is still his curveball but just because you have a good cutter and good curve doesn’t mean that you abandon the fastball. I am in no way saying that Niese needs to lead with his fastball because, I believe that the cutter will replace the fastball soon enough. I just feel that right after the first inning he abandons it and just goes cutter change curve for the entire game. The fastball can set up so many pitches and can surprise people upstairs. Regardless of whether he changes this or not, I believe he will be a dominant pitcher in the big leagues, having his breakout year in 2012.