Mets push back RHP Chris Young due to sore arm

NEW YORK – Mets pitcher Chris Young has tendinitis in his surgically repaired arm and his next scheduled start has been pushed back two days until Sunday.

New York plans to bring D.J. Carrasco out of the bullpen for a spot start in Atlanta on Friday night, when Young originally was slated to pitch. Now he's penciled in for the series finale against the Braves.

The Mets said Young has biceps tendinitis, but no medical tests were planned. The 6-foot-10 right-hander, slowed by arm injuries throughout his career, said he's not too concerned and he thinks a little extra rest should take care of the problem.

"We talked about it and it's I think a chance to nip it in the bud and knock it out," Young said Wednesday. "The improvement over the last two days has been great."

Young is off to a terrific start in his first season with New York, going 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA in two outings.

He thinks the cold wind in Philadelphia during his first start, when he was on base a lot following three singles, could have caused the stiffness he began to feel afterward. But he shut down Washington for seven innings Sunday and said his arm feels fine as long as he can keep it "hot" and loose during a game.

"The main variable I think that changed from spring training to here was the weather," Young said. "The night in Philadelphia was really cold, and I think that played a little bit of a part in it."

He's been icing his arm plenty this week to alleviate inflammation and said he could pitch Friday if needed. But because of Thursday's doubleheader against Colorado, the Mets were going to need a spot starter Friday or Sunday, so they gave Young a choice of when to pitch and he thought it wise to take the additional rest.

"It's probably not the smart decision to push it at this point. It's early in the season, and given a little bit of my history I think that it's the right thing to do to back off and just push it back a couple days," he said. "I've actually learned to differentiate pretty well the serious stuff and the not so serious, so that's why I'm pretty confident in my assessment of this."

Young, an All-Star in 2007 with San Diego, signed a $1.1 million, one-year contract with the Mets in January. The former Princeton basketball player had arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder in August 2009 and pitched only 20 innings for the Padres last season.

"The shoulder I had in the past, I couldn't even lift my shoulder. It just was sore. I couldn't even get it into like a pitching range," Young said. "This is a — I can go through a movement, I can throw a baseball. It's nothing like the past, so I wasn't too concerned with it. And from talking to the trainers and the doctors they said this is pretty common symptoms."

Young said he'll throw a bullpen session Thursday and his routine between starts will remain the same.

The Mets plan to start Carrasco on Friday night if they don't have to use him too much in relief over the next two days. They were scheduled to play three games against the Rockies in 24 hours following Tuesday night's rainout.

New York manager Terry Collins said he hopes Carrasco can throw about 75-80 pitches Friday night and maybe last five innings.