Burkhardt Tweets: Ollie and Nieve Look Good

As tweeted by Kevin Burkhardt of SNY, Ollie Perez and Fernando Nieve both threw a bullpen today and looked good.  According to Burkhardt, "Ollie throwing darts this morning. Not sure what that means come April, but today - he looks good."  Wow, even Burkhardt must have burnt by Ollie a few too many times to bring too much optimism to the table.  Like everyone has said millions of times with Perez, it's not his talent that's the problem.  The guy has nasty stuff when he's there mentally, his problem comes when he starts talking to himself and trying to strike too many guys out.  For Perez to be effective he needs to pound the zone, and then build off that and make hitters chase that nasty slider of his out of the zone. 

As for Nieve, Burkhardt says, "Nieve's bullpen session impressed me. Good fastball location, sharp breaking ball. Told me he has felt good all winter."  Nieve was quoted in an article for the NY Post, here, saying, "I don't want to get too comfortable, because sometimes you get comfortable and work less than you used to be...I have to be the same, work hard and gain my spot."  Personally, I'm all for competition and everyone realizing there is a competition, but it sounds like Nieve is trying to humble himself.  I don't think Nieve realizes that Niese is going to push him, even if Nieve doesn't push himself.  The kid is good, and can could/should beat him out for the fifth starter gig, all things being equal, which unfortunately because of team options, etc., isn't true...