According to the NY Post, Mets officials had been privately discussing using Niese out of the pen because they were concerned Niese was dismissing his changeup (he had thrown just nine in four starts), which reduced him to more of a reliever-like repertoire of fastball and curve.
The Post says that this illustrates how dedicated this front office is to winning.
That the Mets were even pondering such a move shows just how dedicated they are early this season to win rather than play for the future. They further demonstrated that by announcing after yesterday’s 8-4 win over Arizona that they were keeping Gee to pitch out of the pen and demoting D.J. Carrasco, the only free agent they gave a multi-year contract to in the offseason.
I don’t know about all that, but I will say this front office has no tolerance for under-performing players.
Original Post: Mets Option Carrasco, Keep Gee On Roster
The Mets optioned reliever D.J. Carrasco to Triple-A Buffalo after today’s 8-4 win over the D’backs, opening a roster spot for starter Chris Young and keeping right-handed pitcher Dillon Gee with the major-league squad. Young will be activated on Tuesday when he is eligible.
GM Sandy Alderson explains,
“We want the most effective group of pitchers we can have. Dillon does have to move into a different role, but we want to see how he performs. In the meantime, we need to get Carrasco back to where we know he can be effective.”
Carrasco allowed two hits and one run in one-third of an inning today, raising his ERA to 5.91 on the season. He is expected to join the starting rotation in Buffalo.
Good news for Dillon Gee who has 2 Wins, a 2.31 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP in two games sine being called up.
