The Mets lost two of their starting pitchers in Florida, Jon Niese due to a hamstring injury, and Oliver Perez due to being dreadful.
Hisanori Takahashi will start in Jon Niese’s place on Friday night, while R.A. Dickey will start in Perez’s place tonight against the Washington Nationals.
Takahashi has seemed to relish in the long man role, a la Darren Oliver in 2006 for the Mets, and he should be kept there as he’s been extremely valuable in that spot. R.A. Dickey, who started 14 games in 2008 for the Seattle Mariners, went 5-8 with a 5.21 ERA.
Assuming Niese can make his next start, you only need to fill one hole in this rotation for the long-term. Roy Oswalt is on the trading block, but the price would be semi-outrageous, both financially and talent-wise.
AAA pitcher Dillon Gee might get a call to the big leagues soon, as he’s been impressive in Buffalo, going 4-1 with a 4.21 ERA, with 40 strikeouts in 47 innings.
All signs point to Jenrry Mejia going back down to the minors when R.A. Dickey is called up on Wednesday, to become a starter (again). Hopefully, Mejia will be ready to start in Queens by mid-June
Perez doesn’t seem to be an option whatsoever at this point, so Gee/Mejia seem to be the most likely to take over his spot in the long run, but the short-term answer, after Dickey’s start on Wednesday, is blurry.
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