By 7:10 p.m. ET, [the Mets] are likely to know more about the problematic right shoulder of John Maine. Assigned to the disabled list since June 7, Maine is to be examined today in Birmingham, Ala., by noted sports surgeon Dr. James Andrews.
The expectation isn't filled with optimism. The Mets no longer think of Maine in terms of this season, and two people in the organization said recently they have heard the club's private sense of the effect of the pinched nerve in his shoulder may be that he never will pitch again without pain, some of it acute.
A person familiar with the club's reports on Maine acknowledged Tuesday that the pitcher has days of no pain and other instances when he cannot throw. "He's very frustrated because he feels like he's making progress, and then it hurts again," he said.