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BOSTON -- Including Monday night's disaster at Fenway Park, Jeff Niemann is 0-3 with a 20.03 ERA in three starts since coming off the Tampa Bay disabled list."I don't like it," Rays manager Joe Maddon said after Niemann gave up six runs in 1 2/3 innings in a 12-5 loss to the Red Sox. "But this guy was so good before."
Maddon said he has no plans to skip Niemann in his rotation.
Before missing three weeks with a shoulder strain, Niemann was 10-3 with a 3.12 ERA and just 44 walks in 141 1/3 innings.
Since returning, he has walked eight in 10 1/3 innings, giving up 19 hits, four of those homers (two Monday).
Niemann said he is fine physically, and Maddon said based on the radar readings and Niemann's delivery, he has no reason to doubt that.
"Everything's fine," Niemann said. "I just couldn't do what I wanted with the ball. Command was off big-time.
"There's nothing wrong. There's no reason for this to happen."
Niemann threw a first-pitch strike to just six of the 12 batters he faced and went to a three-ball count six times.
Maddon theorized that a tall pitcher like the 6-foot-10 Niemann may have a hard time getting perfectly in sync after a layoff. But Maddon thinks the problem is mostly mental.
"I'm just seeing a young pitcher that really need to regain his confidence that he had earlier in the season," Maddon said. "I honestly believe it is more about what he's thinking than what he's throwing."
Niemann claimed he hasn't been tentative.
"It's very frustrating," he said. "The only thing you can do is dust yourself off, get back up there and do it again."
He'll get that chance. Maddon said Niemann is still scheduled to pitch Sunday at Toronto.
Maddon pointed out that last year, Niemann was 2-3 with a 5.65 ERA after six starts and 11-3 with a 3.61 ERA the rest of the season."I think what I've learned in the past," Maddon said, "is that he's able to make the transition pretty quickly."
In losing three straight, Tampa Bay has gotten just 11 innings from its starting pitchers.
"We've got to get our starters back in order," Maddon said. "That's a really big part of our success."
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