Jon Niese Needs Designated For Assignment

The Pirates need to make a roster move today to make room for Tyler Glasnow, and that move should be designating Jon Niese for assignment.

It goes without saying that Jon Niese has been a massive disappointment for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season. Jon Niese was expected to be the Pirates’ third starter this season. However, he has struggled so immensely that he has been moved to the bullpen.

Since being moved to the bullpen Jon Niese has made three appearances, and his struggles have continued. In 7 1/3 innings pitched out of the bullpen Jon Niese is averaging just 4.91 K/9, while also averaging 1.23 HR/9. Furthermore, he has a 4.64 FIP and a 4.68 xFIP since being moved to the bullpen. The time has come for Jon Niese to be designated for assignment.

In 21 games pitched, 18 starts, Jon Niese has logged 109 innings. In those 109 innings pitched Niese has a 4.95 ERA, 5.39 FIP, and a 4.36 xFIP. He is also averaging a career worst 1.76 HR/9 as a result of leading the National League in home runs allowed.

It is no secret that Jon Niese has found himself in the Pirates’ doghouse. It has been reported multiple times that the Pirates have attempted to trade Jon Niese. Not surprisingly, Niese does not seem to have much trade value.

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Jon Niese’s role in the Pirate bullpen is a long man that can pitch multiple innings. However, the Pirates already have a reliever who can do this in Juan Nicasio. Juan Nicasio brings more value to the table than Jon Niese. Unlike Niese, Juan Nicasio always has the stuff to be a good one inning reliever for the Pirates. This gives Clint Hurdle a lot more flexibility with Nicasio than he has with Niese. Also, Nicasio has pitched better than Niese this season.

This afternoon the Pittsburgh Pirates will send Tyler Glasnow to the mound to pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies. Due to this, the Pirates need to make a roster move to make room on the 25-man roster for Glasnow. The move the Pirates should make is to designate Jon Niese for assignment.

At this point Niese does not bring any value to the Pirates. His role has been diminished to being the Pirates’ long reliever in the bullpen. However, as I said above, the Pirates have another pitcher in Juan Nicasio who can do that and be more effective doing it.

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Jon Niese has been a massive disappointment for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season. The time has come for the disappointment to end. The Pirates need to designate Jon Niese for assignment to make room on the roster for Tyler Glasnow this afternoon.