Major League Baseball

Mets ace Santana suffers rehab setback

Published Aug. 3, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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New York Mets pitcher Johan Santana will not make his next rehab start in Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Wednesday or Thursday, as the Mets had hoped he would.

Instead, the lefty will fly back to New York to see a doctor Thursday at the Hospital for Special Surgery after experiencing "lingering discomfort" in his surgically repaired left shoulder, according to general manager Sandy Alderson.

Santana pitched three scoreless innings for Class-A St. Lucie last Thursday and said he complained of a lack of strength on Monday, but Tuesday Alderson said Santana was feeling worse.

He now won't pitch again until Monday at the earliest, and Alderson admitted this was a setback after Tuesday calling it a "tweak in the schedule."

"It was a day-by-day proposition to see how he came back from his original three innings," Alderson said. "I think he has less confidence than he might have, so it was prudent to have him checked out. And it will either be reassuring or we'll step back and see where we are."

Santana has been on a 30-day rehab stint, but that likely will be reset Monday because he hasn't thrown for seven days.

The 32-year-old underwent the same procedure to fix a torn anterior capsule in his throwing shoulder as Chien-Ming Wang did, and Wang has only just returned to the Nationals after a two-year absence. Using that timeline, the Mets' hopes of having Santana pitch this year after undergoing the surgery in September was ambitious, but Alderson still won't rule it out.

"I don't really believe it's about this year," Alderson said. "It's about a timetable to get him ready. If part of that is pitching games in the major leagues this year, good. If it's not, it's not. We're certainly not gonna rush things. Right now, I think a window in September is open to us. If it closes, that's the way it goes."

Alderson said doctors haven't decided whether Santana will have an MRI exam Thursday, and the Mets don't know if the discomfort is because of last week's start or the long toss Santana did over the weekend. He did not have a bullpen session after the start.

The two-time Cy Young Award winner went 11-9 with a 2.98 ERA last season in 29 starts.
 

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