John Maine

In what has become a recurring pattern, Maine missed a large portion of the season, this time due to shoulder weakness that cost him more than three months. In 2008, Maine pitched through shoulder woes, ultimately ending up with late-season surgery to shave down a large bone spur in the back of his shoulder. He struggled initially but righted himself with a solid May, but the shoulder weakness reared its head in early-June, sidelining him for most of the year. It was finally determined that a nerve was being pinched by scar tissue, which caused the weakness. After that diagnosis, the conditioning exercises he did in Port St. Lucie. let him build up the shoulder and the surrounding area, enabling him to avoid surgery. Maine will be a big question mark heading into 2010, though as of now, he is penciled into the middle of the team's rotation.

Maine was once again good early - though not as dominant as in 2007 - then began his downward slide in June, which culminated in a trip to the disabled list and surgery to remove a bone spur behind his right shoulder. Maine may have been impacted by the injury earlier than he let on, as he had a dead arm in June and cramp in his left forearm in early July before leaving his last start of that month with the shoulder injury. Maine came back to make two solid starts before being blasted in his third and ultimately was shut down the rest of the way prior to having surgery. He expects to begin long tossing on schedule in late December and be ready by spring training. If healthy, Maine should be the Mets' third starter behind Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey, depending on what the team does in free agency and the trade market.

Maine got off to a huge start in 2007, going 4-0 with a 1.35 ERA in April and posting a 10-4 record with a 2.71 ERA before the All-Star break, but he was unable to recapture that form during the second half of the season. When things go bad for Maine he reverts back to his to bad habits: falling behind hitters, overthrowing his fastball and not trusting his secondary pitches. It's possible that Maine dealt with somewhat of a dead arm since last year was his first full season and he revealed after the year that he had pitched with a cranky left hip since spring training - discomfort that intensified and may have contributed to his 5.53 ERA in 15 starts during the second half. Maine enters 2008 as one of the Mets' top starters, and with improved health and a full year under his belt, an 18-win season would not be surprising.

Maine was originally viewed as the throw-in from the Kris Benson-Jorge Julio trade but he would turn out to be so much more for the Mets last season. An injury to Brian Bannister opened the door, and after a missing six weeks with soreness and inflammation on the middle finger of his pitching hand, Maine secured a spot in the team's rotation. He solidified his role with 26 consecutive scoreless innings, then after one bad start, reeled off several more good starts to remain in the rotation. Maine benefited from the tutelage of pitching coach Rick Peterson and enters spring training with a good shot at filling one of the spots in the back end of New York's rotation.

It seems like 2006 will be the last best opportunity for Maine to stick at the major league level. The 24-year-old former organizational pitcher of the year has struggled through the last couple seasons in the upper minors and majors, including a 6.30 ERA in eight starts for the Orioles in 2005. With the team so thin on pitching, Maine will be given an opportunity to earn a spot in the rotation in spring training and could benefit under the tutelage of new pitching coach Leo Mazzone. If the soft-tossing control artist doesn't get it together early in the season, he'll likely be another shoulda-been and his future in the league will be grim.

Maine, the Orioles 2003 pitcher of the year, dominated Double-A early in 2004 before struggling somewhat in Triple-A. He did strike out 104 batters in 104 minor league innings, but a disastrous major league spot start against Minnesota indicated that Maine still needs plenty of seasoning. He should spend most of the 2005 season in Triple-A, and if all goes well, should compete for a spot in the rotation in 2006.

Maine was a sixth-round pick in 2002 that came out of nowhere to become the organization's top pitcher of the year. In two Single-A stops, he was dominant, striking out 185 batters in 146 1/3 innings. He'll work his way up the organization to Double-A Bowie in 2004, where we'll get a better indication if 2003 was for real.