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John Maine will undergo an MRI on his right shoulder after leaving Monday night’s game. Carlos Muniz replaced Maine after the starter threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings. Maine has been dealing with soreness in his shoulder for weeks. “You get soreness,” Maine said, “but it’s never felt like this before.” It seems quite likely that Maine will miss his next start, but pitching coach Dan Warthen says the pain is in the back of his shoulder, which is not a “trouble spot.”

Maine said after his abbreviated start Monday that he’s been dealing with pain in his right shoulder since his last outing. “It was sore, but I told them I could go out there and pitch,” he said. Maine has yet to throw 200 innings a season and is highly unlikely to reach the mark this year. The Mets may want to give him a couple of weeks off to give him a better chance of being close to 100 percent in September and October. (Rotoworld)

The problem lies in the back of Maine’s right shoulder — not a trouble spot, according to pitching coach Dan Warthen — and has caused him pain throughout recent weeks. But the Mets were not entirely concerned until they noticed a hitch in Maine’s mechanics during a pitch sequence to John Baker in the fifth inning Monday. Warthen didn’t like how Maine began dropping his arm angle, potentially exposing him to risk of other injury, as the shoulder pain intensified, which is why he was pulled from the game. The injury has nothing to do with the dead arm that affected Maine earlier this month in St. Louis, nor is it the type of injury that should cost him significant time. He could miss one start, but with Pedro Martinez slated to return Friday and two off-days over the next week, there are ways to skip Maine’s spot while keeping him in the regular rotation. A better sense of the extent of the injury and how long - if at all - Maine needs to be sidelined will be known once the exam results are in. (Rotowire)

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