MIAMI – The Mets will throw caution to the wind tomorrow night by starting rookie left-hander Jonathon Niese against the Brewers in Milwaukee.
Manager Jerry Manuel announced the long-rumored move yesterday, saying it was an organization-wide decision that Niese would make his big-league debut in the midst of a pennant race against one of baseball’s most powerful lineups.
The Brewers, who are chasing the Cubs in the NL Central and currently lead the race for the wild card, were third among all big-league teams with 176 homers through Saturday.
Niese, 21, will be opposed in the 8:05 p.m. start by left-hander Manny Parra, a 10-game winner. Manuel said Niese, a 2005 seventh-round pick, got the nod over veterans Brian Stokes and Nelson Figueroa after much internal discussion.
“That’s our best option,” Manuel said of Niese. “You don’t know what you’re going to get, that’s true, but [he has] talent. And enough people within the system believe in him. You have to go with that, and you have to trust your people.”
Niese, one of the Mets’ prized prospects, is being promoted as part of the Sept. 1 roster expansion after going 5-1 with a 3.40 ERA in seven starts for Triple-A New Orleans. He was 6-7 with a 3.04 ERA in 22 starts for Double-A Binghamton earlier in the year.
The Mets need a fifth starter with John Maine on the disabled list indefinitely due to a bone spur in his right shoulder. Niese is expected to be a spot starter the final month of the regular season instead of a regular member of the rotation because the Mets have three off days scheduled in the next two weeks.
Niese’s strengths are his two curveballs, particularly the 12-to-6, over-the-top version he uses as his out pitch. He usually clocks between 88-92 mph with his fastball.
Rookie left fielder Daniel Murphy, who played alongside Niese at both New Orleans and Binghamton, said his former minor league teammate has the mental makeup to endure such a harrowing debut.
“He’s confident in what he’s got,” Murphy said. “I think he has the stuff to get out major league hitters if he stays within himself and doesn’t try to do too much. He’s got the stuff to stay here for a long time.”
In spring training, Niese impressed Manuel (who was former manager Willie Randolph’s bench coach then) with a strong start in late March against the Braves. Niese threw four shutout innings that day before faltering in the fifth.
Tony Bernazard, the Mets’ VP of player development, said the club is eager to see what it has in Niese.
“We think very highly of him. He’s a 21-year-old who we expect to be an important member of this team,” Bernazard said. “You have to perform at some point, and for him, it just happens to be [tomorrow] against a very good team. Let’s see what he’s got.”
bhubbuch@nypost.com