Maine admits he's in pain; Manuel considers rotation options

Sounds as though Dan Warthen knew what he was talking about. Two days after the Mets pitching coach called him a "habitual liar" about his health, John Maine admitted that, yes, something is wrong with his right shoulder, and in the same area that sidelined him for more than seven weeks last season.

"There's a little bit of pain, but what pitcher doesn't have pain?" Maine said before yesterday's game. "It's the nature of pitching. It wasn't going to stop me from going out there every five days."

That mind-set is why manager Jerry Manuel took the ball from Maine after only five pitches Thursday night and also the reason the Mets put him on the 15-day disabled list before Friday's opener against the Yankees.

A year ago, Maine struggled after surgery that removed a bony growth at the back of his right shoulder and he landed on the DL because of what was described as "shoulder weakness."

The Mets used that same diagnosis after Maine, 29, was checked out by their medical staff Friday, and they hope to have a better idea of what's wrong with him when he has more extensive tests, including an MRI Monday.

"There was a little bit of weakness, not that much," Maine said. "I guess they want to get to the bottom of it. What's the problem, you know? What's going on back there?

"I told them I didn't want to go on [the DL]. I want to pitch. I think they understand that, but they also understand there's still something going on back there. Something has got to be found, but if everything comes back good, then I'll deal with it and pitch, if I have to."

On Thursday, Maine was furious with Manuel and Warthen for being lifted so soon, as well as their assertions that he was hiding an injury. But only traces of that defiant tone remained when Maine discussed his situation Saturday. He seemed resigned to his fate.

"Hopefully, it's just 15 days," he said. "If they find nothing, I'll throw maybe one rehab game and be back in 15 days. That's what I'm hoping."

The Mets are skipping his turn through the rotation this week anyway with tomorrow's off day. Manuel seems to be leaning toward Raul Valdes over knuckleballer R.A. Dickey for Tuesday's series opener against the Phillies, followed by Hisanori Takahashi and Mike Pelfrey.

Dickey allowed two runs in six innings in Wednesday's loss to the Nationals, but Manuel might use him at some point over the weekend in relief. The manager was planning to stay away from Valdes, thinking the lefthander might be a better matchup against the Phillies. He also was impressed by Valdes' five innings of emergency relief for Maine on Thursday. "I think he can be a good fit," Manuel said. "I think when a guy rescues you in the first inning and does what he did, you'd like to reward him. But you might not want to reward him against the Phillies - maybe somebody else."

Whether it's Dickey or Valdez might not matter much to the Phillies, who through Friday are batting .273 with a .452 slugging percentage against righthanded pitchers and .278 and .459 against lefthanders. As for Takahashi, who threw 101 pitches Friday, bringing him back on four days' rest is uncharted territory.

Takahashi was a starter for 10 years in Japan, but their regular turn normally comes every sixth day, not five, as in the majors. Manuel said he isn't concerned.

"For the most part, he's been taken care of as far as days off and those types of things," Manuel said. "I think he's had the proper rest. Also from what I hear from baseball coaches in Japan, they do throw a lot and like to throw a lot."

Given the state of the Mets' pitching these days, they're going to need it.