Jon Niese makes his return to the major leagues tonight, after dominating AAA since his May demotion to the tune of 71.2 IP, 57 K's, 18 BB's and a 3.01 ERA.  He should never have been sent down, as the Mets Brainstorm likely based their decision on his 5.91 ERA rather than his 5.0 K/BB and 50% GB% (in a small sample of just 10.2 innings pitched).  Why Niese was allowed just 1 poor start while other inferior pitchers were allowed 3 before risk of demotion is perplexing. Regardless, he is back now and my request for the Brainstorm is simple: leave him up for the rest of the season.  Don't be frightened by his inevitable blow-up start(s) - he is certainly the 3rd best, and maybe the 2nd best, starting pitcher on the roster.  Give him 12 starts to finish the season; give him the chance to fail.

Fortunately this is a request I think will be heeded because there just aren't enough active arms in this organization to go around.  John Maine is probably done for the year; ditto Fernando Nieve.  The ideal situation would also include dropping Livan Hernandez from the rotation and a call-up of Nelson Figueroa.  It wouldn't be a drastic, season changing improvement.  However, if given the choice between a 34(?) year-old glorified batting practice pitcher who has lucked his way to a few WINZZ against the Nationals or a 35 year-old AAA All-Star who would likely perform slightly below league average, I'll take the latter.