Johan Santana Injury Update: Mets Will Shut Down Veteran Lefty

The New York Mets have shut down veteran pitcher Johan Santana for the season. The news came late Wednesday afternoon from general manager Sandy Alderson, who said Santana has lower back inflammation that will not require surgery.

The injury itself, which was discovered after an MRI on Tuesday, would not usually keep Santana out for the whole season as doctors are prescribing just rest and medication. However, the Mets (57-66) are very quickly slipping out of the postseason race, and it would do the 33-year-old veteran no good to keep him throwing.

[Related: Yankees place Ivan Nova on disabled list]

Santana will end his season with a 6-9 record and a 4.85 ERA. Those numbers are a bit deceiving, as Santana was a key factor in New York's solid first half, which included the former Cy Young Award winner tossing the franchise's first ever no-hitter on June 1.

For reaction on Johan Santana, check out the SB Nation blog Amazin' Avenue.

Johan Santana Injury Update: Ace To Undergo MRI, Might Be Shut Down

Johan Santana will get an MRI on his balky back Tuesday, a test which could shut down Santana for the season.

Santana gave the Mets a nice 50th birthday present by pitching the franchise's first no-hitter in June, but has been shaky since, and that's putting it nicely. Santana's last five starts have been losses. He's given up over six runs in each, and hasn't made it past the fifth inning in any. That led manager Terry Collins to set a plan to get Santana through a bad stretch: he'd limit the pitcher to under 100 pitches in this Thursday's outing and evaluate the pitcher's health after a few more starts, with the potential to shut him down after rosters expanded in September. But that plan could be in jeopardy: Santana's back is apparently really bothering him, and if an MRI reveals anything bad, the Mets will likely end his season early.

Shutting down Santana would be the prudent plan for the Mets if anything comes up in the test: Santana is still a great pitcher, as evidenced by his 2.78 ERA at the end of June before his horrendous five-game stretch. He'll be more helpful to the team in the future than he will with the team nearly 20 games out of the division lead.

For more on the Mets, there's Amazin' Avenue, as well as SB Nation New York.

Johan Santana Might Have Injured Himself During No-Hitter

New York Mets left hander Johan Santana might have injured himself during his historic outing on June 1, pitching the first no-hitter in Mets history.

Since then, Santana has seen his ERA rise from 2.38 all the way up to 4.85, following his Friday night pounding at the hands of the Washington Nationals.

According to the New York Daily News, Santana might have injured himself during the outing, or at the least, was willing to sacrifice his arm in order to etch his name into history books.

That night of that no-hitter, in a frozen moment at the center of the jumping and screaming, one teammate did ask Johan Santana the real question: What if those 134 pitches hurt your arm?

As the friend remembered it, Santana looked directly at him and said, "It would still be worth it."

Santana isn't necessarily against being shut down for the season, either.

So is it time to shut him down for the year? Asked three times, the man himself did not reject the notion, as a healthy athlete might.

"I don't know," Santana said. "The next outing, we'll see what the whole situation will |be. Right now, I feel fine. We'll see the next couple days what they have to say, or what we are going to do."

Later, he added: "Whatever they want to do, as long as it works out for everybody in the long term, I think it will be fine."

With the Mets having nothing to play for in 2012, ensuring that Santana is healthy into 2013 is likely New York's top priority.

For the latest on the Mets, head over to Amazin' Avenue.