If he has options, send him down for some polish. If he's a team player, and a realist, he'll take it the right way. It may be an apples/oranges thing to compare him to a pitcher, but once upon a time Steve Traschel took his Mets demotion in stride, came down to the sticks, worked out his kinks and came back a better player. No reason Ike can't do the same.