Mets LHP Santana won’t pitch in majors this season

NEW YORK (AP) — Mets ace Johan Santana will be shut out of the majors this season.

The lefty is still working his way back from shoulder surgery exactly a year ago Wednesday. The Mets say he will pitch a simulated game this Sunday in Fort Myers, Fla., and then go to the instructional league.

The Mets expect the two-time Cy Young Award winner to be ready for spring training.

Early this year, the Mets had thought Santana might be able to rejoin the rotation by June or sometime this season. But manager Terry Collins says that hope “pretty much has been out the window for a while.”

Santana made two rehabilitation starts for Class-A St. Lucie and another for Class-A Savannah in the South Atlantic League playoffs. There was a chance he would pitch again this week for Savannah in the championship series, but Santana and the Mets decided against that idea.