New York Mets: Jon Niese Should Not be in Starting Rotation

Sometimes in baseball, things take a unexpected turn. And all of a sudden you find yourself with a serious case of deja vous. That appears to be what’s happened with the return of Jonathan Niese to the New York Mets rotation

When Jonathan Niese learned that he had been traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, he quickly turned on the New York Mets throwing their defense under the bus. Quoted in the New York Daily News, Niese didn’t miss a step going out the door saying, “I’m sure what I’ll appreciate more than anything is the way (the Pirates) play defense. I’m looking forward to that,” Niese told Pirates writers.

Here he is…..mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maximus culpa……..

This is the same man who holds a pedestrian win-loss record of 69-68 after nine big league seasons. Inexplicably, this is the same pitcher that the Mets re-acquired in another trade with the Pirates.

That’s right. You can’t make this stuff up, In a deal that sent reliever Antonio Bastardo and cash considerations to the Pirates, Niese is now a member of the Mets (again!). Never mind that Terry Collins was forced to jump through hoops in explaining that Niese’s comments are something that will have to be dealt with in the off season.

Never mind the fact that almost as soon as he joined the Pirates, they began shopping him as Steve Adams reported in early July. In this piece, Adams explains that Niese “has struggled through the worst season of his nine-year career in the Majors.

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The 29-year-old currently holds a 4.87 ERA — his highest full-season mark of any in his career — and is averaging more walks per nine innings (3.1) than he has since 2010. The main problem for Niese, though, is that he’s been astonishingly prone to the long ball with Pittsburgh, surrendering 19 home runs through his first 98 innings. That mark is already higher than the total number of homers he allowed in the 2011, 2013 and 2014 seasons (individually, not combined), and it sits one behind last year’s total of 20 homers despite the fact that he’s pitched 80 fewer innings.”

True, that’s a lot of mumbo jumbo numbers. But they are what they are and they’re not very different from the numbers we came to experience with Niese throughout his previous tenure with the Mets.

Nevertheless, Niese will be taking the mound on Tuesday night to begin yet another crucial series with the St. Louis Cardinals. This, my friends, is what this season has come down to for the Mets.

must read: What are five reasons why the Mets will miss the playoffs?

Oh, I know, I know. Niese is only a stop gap starter and he wouldn’t even be on the team if not for injuries. But still, he’s a very poor excuse for a starting pitcher these days. To be sure, the Pirates are happy the Mets solved a problem for them. Hopefully, we’ll be just as happy when we wake up Wednesday morning to check the box score if we don’t get a chance to watch the game.

But, I seriously doubt it. What was Sandy Alderson thinking?

If you can bear it, he gives it the old college try here……

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