#49 SP

New York Mets

2013 STATS

GM 14

W3

L6

BB33

K49

ERA 4.32

SAN FRANCISCO -- Jonathon Niese had a favorable reexamination on Monday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan with team doctor David Altchek and has been cleared to go to the team's complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla., to begin the rehab process.

Niese had landed on the disabled list after a June 20 start with what the team labeled a partial tear of the rotator cuff in his pitching shoulder.

"There's some normal wear and tear in there that a pitcher would show, but nothing that [Altchek] termed as any kind of a new injury," assistant GM John Ricco said. "All pitchers have something in there. So I think that's what they were seeing. But now on the clearer MRI he said he was really happy.

"The other part of it is Jon is asymptomatic on all of his tests, so he's feeling great and looking forward to getting going again."

Ricco said the time to get back into a major league game is unclear, but it will be a process because Niese has not thrown a baseball for more than two weeks.

"Until he gets down there and starts long-tossing, we won't know," Ricco said.