Adrian Houser originally got moved into the bullpen because the Mets had little choice, other than to dump the struggling right-hander from the roster.

In the six weeks since that change, Houser appears to have eliminated the issues that caused his early-season trouble. His velocity has increased. Walks have decreased.

In Houser’s ideal world, he already would have returned to starting. That likely isn’t happening.

Not only are the Mets covered in the rotation, but Houser has become too valuable in his new role to consider moving, notwithstanding Thursday’s outing in which he surrendered the go-ahead eighth-inning home run to the Nationals’ Jesse Winker.