Bone spurs in elbow likely to sideline Jenrry Mejia for season

Jenrry Mejia's season likely is finished, done in by the excruciating pain brought on by bone spurs in his right elbow. Mets manager Terry Collins expects the 23-year-old righthander to have surgery to deal with the issue, which would allow him to pitch in winter ball and accelerate his return to the big leagues.

"If his arm is healthy and if he gets this [surgery] done, he'll be throwing in the Dominican before spring training," said Collins, who believes Mejia has positioned himself to win a spot in the rotation next season.

Mejia went 1-2 with a 2.30 ERA in five starts after a lengthy rehab from elbow inflammation that sidelined him in spring training.

In the meantime, his injury will force the Mets to shuffle their starting rotation, a task complicated by the team's desire to keep Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler within their innings ceilings.

The Mets hoped to get them under their limits by spreading out their starts down the stretch. They initially adopted a six-man rotation, but Jeremy Hefner's elbow injury scrapped that plan. Next, they planned to use a modified five-man alignment, using scheduled days off and occasional spot starts to space out work for Harvey and Wheeler. Now the Mets are struggling to find five healthy arms.

They could slide Carlos Torres into the rotation for a spot start Friday. They also could have Harvey pitch on regular rest, part of the reason he was pulled after six innings Sunday.

Extra basesThe Mets recalled reliever Greg Burke from Las Vegas . . . Collins considered playing Wilmer Flores at second Sunday, but his ankle issue forced the manager to keep him at third.