Jonathon Niese has Rotator Cuff Tear

Jonathon Niese has been placed on the disabled list with a partially torn rotator cuff, but thus far season-ending surgery is not being recommended. Instead, Niese will rest for a couple of weeks, and hopefully it will repair itself. Does anybody really think that will happen?

Niese was pulled from Thursday’s game in Atlanta in the fourth inning after experiencing pain in his left shoulder. Niese has been having trouble with tendinitis in his shoulder for a couple of weeks now, but it was unrelated to the tear. It seems he took an MRI at the time and no tear showed up then.

“According to the doctors, it’s a small enough tear that with rest … they’re hopeful it won’t need surgery,” said assistant GM John Ricco. “It’s not ‘full thickness’ or a significant tear at this point.”

As far as what this means for the team, Greg Burke has been called up to replace Niese, and the Mets will not be going with a six-man rotation. This means Shaun Marcum gets to keep his starting job and can add more losses to his 0-9 record.

We all hope and pray that his shoulder will indeed heal itself, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone if we have seen the last of Jonathon Niese this season.