HOUSTON — The Mets are trying to protect John Maine from his stubborn self.
As expected, the young right-hander had his next scheduled turn in the rotation pushed back after being diagnosed with a strained right rotator cuff earlier this week in New York.
Maine was supposed to go Sunday here against the Astros, but Jerry Manuel said tonight that Oliver Perez will get that start instead. Maine will now throw Aug. 8 at home against the Marlins after a pair of bullpen sessions.
What made such a usually routine announcement out of the ordinary was that Maine arrived at Minute Maid Park and immediately badgered Manuel into letting him make the start.
It was a typical Maine moment, but Manuel was having none of it.
“Was he all right with the decision? He’s got no choice,” Manuel said when asked Maine’s reaction to the news.
Maine admitted that he pushed the Mets to start against the Astros, saying that it goes against his nature to sit out.
“Yeah, I wanted to pitch,” he said before the opener of a three-game series. “It’s tough. I want to be out there every fifth day. It doesn’t matter if I pitch three innings and get shelled or go seven innings and do well. I just want to be out there, because that’s how I am.”
Maine’s fiery nature was certainly evident earlier this week in Miami, when he was lifted after 4 2/3 innings of his Monday start against the Marlins when Manuel and pitching coach Dan Warthen noticed a disconcerting hitch in his delivery.
Warthen figured Maine was overcompensating for soreness in his shoulder, and Warthen’s hunch proved correct when an MRI exam later in the week showed a strain in the rotator cuff.
But even though his manager and pitching coach knew best, Maine didn’t depart quietly. He complained to Manuel on the mound while being taken out, then continued to argue animatedly with Warthen in the dugout.
“That was just John being John,” Warthen said.
Maine said that, while not pleased with being forced to miss a turn, he agrees with the decision.
“With the off days and them really not needing me right now, it made sense to do it right now,” Maine said, referring to off days Thursday of this week and Monday of next week. “That’s the best thing. It would be better than me going out there at less than 100 percent and hurting the team.”
Manuel portrayed the decision to skip Maine’s start to reporters the same way he did to Maine in their pregame meeting.
“It’s just a precaution,” Manuel said. “The more rest, the better he’ll be. He’ll throw two bullpen sessions in the meantime. He should be fine after that.”
As much as Maine wants to pitch, he said news of a problem with his rotator cuff will serve as a wake-up call. The 27-year-old has never had a serious arm problem in his entire baseball career, and he is determined not to let this current situation bloom into one.
That means no more lengthy long-toss sessions between starts, and bullpen work will be at least 15 pitches shorter.
“I think I was doing too much between starts,” Maine said. “I need to dial it down a little bit, and that covers everything. As much as it kills me not to be out there, you’ve got to watch your arm this time of year.”