New York, NY

The New York Mets have placed starter Johan Santana on the 15-day disabled list with a right ankle sprain, saying the injury has affected the left-hander's pitch command and velocity.

"As we had gone back, ever since he's had the ankle injury, basically his command hasn't been there. We don't think he can land properly. He's using all arm to pitch, causing some fatigue in his shoulder -- no pain," said Mets manager Terry Collins.

"We're going to give him some rest, let the ankle heal up, and rebuild the arm strength a little bit," added Collins, who recalled right-hander Jeremy Hefner from Triple-A Buffalo to join the bullpen against the Dodgers.

Santana (6-7) suffered the injury July 6 when Chicago Cubs outfielder Reed Johnson stepped on his ankle in a race to first base at Citi Field. He just threw 4 2/3 innings during that game after giving up 13 hits and seven earned runs.

Since then, Santana has lost two in a row, surrendered a total of 12 earned runs on 15 hits in eight innings on the mound.

Collins said Santana admitted later that the swollen ankle has affected his command and velocity.

"He said that there's no energy," Collins said. "There's times when it's all work just to make the pitch. He said last night during the game he was really going to try to throw one hard, and he looked up and the velocity wasn't what he wanted it to be. That's when he said, 'I'm just tired.' It's all gone back to when he got stepped on."

General manager Sandy Alderson expects Santana to take more than the minimum 15 days to recover, loosely targeting an Aug. 7-12 homestand return against the Marlins and Braves.

Alderson believes there is no structural damage to the ankle, but said doctors will take another look at the shoulder that caused Santana to miss all of last season after he underwent surgery on Sept. 10, 2010.

"Johan, I think, has exhibited the effects of 100 innings and a sore ankle for the last couple starts, and we think the ankle injury may have led to some general fatigue," Alderson said.

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