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.
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