Nieve starting to show his stuff to Astros

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Like Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins and Freddy Garcia of the Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros prospect Fernando Nieve is a product of the club's Venezuelan Academy. Like those two All-Stars, Nieve has taken one small step at a time on his trip up the organizational ladder after overcoming less than impressive starts at the lower levels of the Minor Leagues.

Unlike Santana and Garcia, however, the 23-year-old Nieve hasn't yet developed into a solid member of the rotation, let alone an All-Star or Cy Young-caliber pitcher.

Nieve will probably never be as good as either of his illustrious predecessors, and yet the Astros and scouts believe it won't be long before this hard-throwing right-hander makes a mark of his own in the big leagues.

"He's been very good at times, less than what he can do at others," Houston general manager Tim Purpura said. "His better sinker we're starting to see now, and that's his game. He throws a heavy ball."

When Nieve throws his fastball for strikes, he tends to get a lot of ground outs. He throws a two-seamer and a four-seam fastball in the low 90s, and combined with a slider, curveball and an improving changeup Nieve has the arsenal to be a very good Major League starter.

With 704 innings in the Minor Leagues, he's also at an important point on his career track. Though he is likely headed to a second season at Triple-A, he was considered far enough along on his career track to become one of six candidates for two open spots in Houston's rotation.

Consistency has been Nieve's problem, but in his second start of the spring (fourth outing) on Friday, Nieve had his best performance yet. In four scoreless innings against Atlanta, he limited the Braves to five singles and did not walk a batter. He struck out four.

"I felt real good today," he said. "I'm working on consistency [in] getting the ball more on the corner. Sometimes I have a problem with my mechanics, like [pitching] too quick. I need consistency in throwing the ball for strikes. I think I did good today."

Nieve fell behind on only three hitters and used everything in his repertoire except one pitch.

"Just fastball and slider and a couple of curveballs, but I didn't throw my changeup today," Nieve said.

Astros manager Phil Garner wants to see Nieve continue to pound the strike zone.

"I'm necessarily swayed by the outcome more than by what he does with his pitches," Garner said. "If he's showing pretty decent location with his ball and he's able to throw his pitches over the plate and use something other than his fastball when he gets behind, that will be good. He was sharp today, he went right after hitters."

Since signing with Houston as a non-drafted free agent in 1999, Nieve is 45-36 with a 3.30 ERA in 133 career Minor League games. Last year he was 4-3 with a 2.65 ERA at Double-A Corpus Christi and 4-4 with a 4.83 ERA at Triple-A Round Rock with two complete-game shutouts. In a combined 167.0 innings he struck out 171 and walked 62.

Nieve's 2005 season also included participation in the MLB Futures Game over the All-Star break at Comerica Park in Detroit, and both midseason and postseason Texas League All-Star honors.

"We've seen real progress, both in terms of his confidence and his location," Purpura said. "He's got a bright future."