In some of the least surprising news of the season, the Mets have placed Jon Niese on the disabled list with a left knee injury. The team has called up Erik Goeddel, who was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas just a few days ago when the Mets activated Jim Henderson from the disabled list.
Niese was, of course, traded to the Pirates over the offseason for Neil Walker before the Mets traded former Pirates Antonio Bastardo—who they signed in free agency—back to the Pirates for Niese in July. In his time with the two teams, Niese has had the worst season of his major league career. He gave up three runs in one-third of an inning on Tuesday night before he was removed from the game, and he now has a 5.50 ERA and 5.62 ERA on the season.
When Niese left the game, the recently-promoted Robert Gsellman took over for him and pitched well. He figures to continue to take Niese’s turn in the rotation in the short term, and given Niese’s performance this season, he might be able to hold on to it with even moderate success.
As for Goeddel, he had been pitching well but gave up five runs in three appearances totaling just one inning. That stretch immediately preceded his demotion to Vegas. His strikeout and walk rates this year have been pretty good, but he’s had a big home run problem as he’s allowed 1.6 per nine innings.