Johan's discomfort will be checked in NY

Johan Santana's next appearance will be Thursday at the Hospital for Special Surgery -- not on a mound in Port St. Lucie -- after Sandy Alderson announced Tuesday that the two-time Cy Young winner is scheduled to see a team physician after complaining of "discomfort" in his left shoulder.

Santana, who pitched three innings last Thursday in his rehab debut for Class A St. Lucie, already had been pushed back an extra day after he was slow to rebound from that start. Now he is delayed indefinitely with a return to the major leagues this season looking more doubtful.

"There's some lingering discomfort in his shoulder and we want to make sure that's checked out before going any further with the rehab," Alderson said before Tuesday night's game at Citi Field. "I really can't comment on the severity of the discomfort -- that's one of the reasons why we want to have him seen by the doctor."

As a result, the Mets have temporarily stopped Santana's 30-day rehab clock -- players must be activated by then or agree to extend it -- but Alderson expects to reset that clock when or if he can pitch again. Once that clock has stopped, it requires a seven-day break, so the Mets' general manager said the earliest Santana could start again would be Aug. 8. Of course, the Mets may also decide to shut him down completely.

"Nothing is worth it to the point where we're going to push him to do something that he's not capable of doing," Alderson said. "I think I've already said as far as 2011 is concerned, we're not looking for him to contribute to a pennant race. If he's able to pitch -- great. If he's not, we will work that into his offseason schedule and into spring training.

"We certainly aren't going to rush things. Right now, I think a window in September is open to us. If it closes, that's the way it goes."

Santana reported no problems after last Thursday's start, when he pitched three scoreless innings for St. Lucie. He allowed two hits, struck out three and went to a two-ball count on only one of the 11 batters. Overall, Santana threw 33 pitches, and 26 were strikes.

That was his first official start since Sept. 2 of last season, against the Braves. Twelve days later, Santana had surgery to repair a torn anterior capsule in his left shoulder.

Santana was bound to experience delays following such a procedure. Chien-Ming Wang, who had the same surgery, made his first post-op start Friday against the Mets -- two years to the day of having his shoulder repaired in 2009.

"I think we've anticipated that," Alderson said. "We're into a schedule now which is slightly longer, somewhat longer, than we anticipated in spring training. But I think right now, it's a matter of Johan proceeding at his own pace, and he's going to have to be sensitive to how his body responds to increased workload."

Alderson was unsure exactly when Santana first had issues. He threw off a mound on Saturday and played long toss from 160 feet on Monday, which is consistent with his between-starts routine. But his slow recovery from that prompted the Mets to push his next start to Thursday -- before postponing it altogether.

"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 had, so I think it's prudent to have it checked out. It will be either reassuring or we'll step back and see where we are."