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Niemann Ready To Produce

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By MARC LANCASTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 19, 2008

Updated: 02/18/2008 11:11 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - Jeff Niemann has seen plenty of the Naimoli Complex and the Rays' training staff the past few years, so perhaps it wasn't surprising that he was one of the first players to show up when organized workouts began Jan. 7.

It was the way he looked when he walked in the door that caught everybody's attention, and continues to draw appreciative glances from team officials six weeks later.

Asked Friday after the first day of practice for pitchers and catchers if anything caught his eye, executive vice president Andrew Friedman offered up one specific name.

"Niemann looks great," Friedman said. "He worked extremely hard this offseason."

Set free from the need to rehab his troublesome shoulder, the Rays' top pick from the 2004 draft finally had the luxury of preparing for camp like any other player.

"Instead of worrying about rehab and how my arm feels," he said, "you can go out there and worry about how your body feels and what kind of shape you're in as just an athlete and a baseball player."

The result was Niemann reporting in what he calls the best physical shape of his life, setting him up to build on what amounted to his first full season as a professional. The 25-year-old went 12-6 with a 3.98 ERA in 25 starts for Durham last season, striking out 123 in 131 innings.

More importantly, he stayed healthy aside from a three-week stint on the shelf in August with shoulder fatigue. At the time, Rays officials characterized that break as a case of being overly cautious in the wake of shoulder problems that took significant chunks out of Niemann's previous two seasons with the organization.

Niemann was pleased he was able to pitch effectively last season, most notably going 3-1 with a 3.45 ERA, five walks and 31 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings over his final five starts. But just being able to take the mound regularly and maintain a rhythm helped him immeasurably.

"You forget what it's like to really be out there day in and day out," he said. "That was definitely a huge benefit to get out there last year and throw."

Three seasons into his pro career, Niemann has logged only 239 innings because of his injury woes. Now that he's able to concentrate on pitching instead of mechanics, the Rays hope to see him refine his art. They want to see more consistency out of his breaking ball, better command of his fastball.

On that front, Niemann believes the frustrations he has endured might have helped him in a roundabout way.

"When I came back from rehab, I didn't have my best breaking ball, so I had to learn how to pitch with my fastball," he said. "There are things you pick up that I would never have gotten taught if certain things hadn't happened to me. So all things considered, it kind of worked out better. I'm more of a complete pitcher because of all this stuff happening."

Niemann is one of five pitchers tabbed to compete this spring for the two open spots in the Rays' rotation, but he has the least experience of any of the candidates. Unless he blows the competition away in camp, there's a good chance he'll open the season in Durham to continue the fine-tuning and await a potential call-up later in the year.

It's about time for Niemann to start following through on his potential, as the Rays have dramatically improved their organizational pitching depth since he came aboard. With David Price, Wade Davis, Jake McGee and Chris Mason nipping at his heels, Niemann should have additional external motivation.

"It's good to have some young kids with very high ceilings behind him pushing him, because I don't think he thinks he's going to 'graduate' now," said Durham pitching coach Xavier Hernandez. "Before, that was a possibility - 'I showed them I'm healthy, it's time for them to get me to the big leagues.' Well, now it's time to produce."

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or mlancaster@tampatrib.com.

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