PADRES UPDATE : NOTEBOOK / BOB NIGHTENGALE : Surgery Likely for Whitson, Who Expects to Miss Rest of Year

NEW YORK —  Padre starter Ed Whitson said Friday he is virtually certain he’ll have arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow and miss the remainder of the season.

Whitson, who has a bone spur in his right elbow, said he no longer can pitch without pain and expects to have an operation Monday or Tuesday, which will sideline him for a minimum of 12 weeks.

“I went as long and hard as I could with it,” Whitson said, “but that’s it. I’ve had it. I feel like a hot nail’s been driven through it.

“They said they still have to have X-rays to make sure I need the operation, but I sure don’t need X-rays to know what it is.

“I couldn’t bust a pane of glass right now.”

Whitson will leave the team Sunday for Birmingham, Ala. to visit Dr. James Andrews, who recently completed successful surgery with pitchers Ron Darling of the Mets and Jimmy Key of the Toronto Blue Jays. It will be decided Monday whether surgery will be performed.

The injury thwarts any ideas the Padres entertained of trading Whitson, but they could not have traded him without his permission anyway.

On the day of the All-Star Game, Whitson became a five-and-10-year player. He has been with the Padres for five years and in the major leagues longer than 10 years. The Basic Agreement provides that any player with such service cannot be traded without his permission.

“I don’t know if they’re going to be happy when they find out,” said Whitson (4-6, 4.71 ERA), “but I feel I’m a bargain for them anyway.”

The Padres have an option on Whitson for the 1992 season that will pay him $1 million. If they choose not to sign him, they must pay him a $250,000 buyout.

Whitson’s contract in 1992 would have been guaranteed if he pitched in 30 games or thrown 200 innings this season, but he has made only 12 starts and pitched 78 1/3 innings. Even if he didn’t need surgery, he would miss too much time to reach his incentives.

“It’s definitely depressing,” he said, “but I’ll be back. This isn’t career-threatening or anything. But it’s pretty obvious I’m not going to get that contract extension I wanted.

“Joe (McIlvaine, Padre general manager) told me he wanted to watch me for a bit before he decided. I tried to pitch through it, and look what happened.” Reliever John Costello, whose stay in triple-A Las Vegas lasted long enough for him to warm up only once, returned to the Padres on Friday to take the place of Whitson.

Costello, optioned July 3 to Las Vegas to make room for Greg Harris, was so upset that he stayed in San Diego for three days--the maximum allowed--before reporting to the minors. By the time he finally joined the team, the All-Star break was approaching, and he never appeared in a game.

“I got the news I was coming back last night before the game,” Costello said, “and I didn’t even bother to wait. I took the first flight out. I still haven’t gotten any sleep.” Mike Roarke, Padre pitching coach, on their continuing injury woes: “It’s one thing to say you’re going to pencil in your plans, but we really have to. We quit using ink. When you use ink, it just doesn’t erase as well.” Padre infielder Tim Teufel, on becoming Dwight Gooden’s 1,500th strikeout victim Thursday night: “Hey, I remember Frank Viola telling me how he gave up Rod Carew’s 3,000th hit. And he was honored. So I figure I should be honored, too.” The Padres, who have stolen only four bases in the past 15 games, now have the second-fewest number of stolen bases in the National League with 48. Only the Philadelphia Phillies have fewer.

Even the Detroit Tigers have more stolen bases, 52. Mets third baseman Howard Johnson and his wife celebrated the birth of their third daughter, Kayla Mae, who was born at 1:31 a.m. Friday. It was the second birth by a Mets’ wife in two days, with first baseman Dave Magadan’s wife having a baby Thursday. This prompted Mets public relations director Jay Horowitz to put this item in his press notes: “It is believed to be the first time in Mets history that infielders have had babies born on consecutive days. Duke Carmel and Pumpsie Green had babies born on back-to-back days in 1963, but Carmel had been converted to an outfielder mere days before the birth.” . . . The Padres will play the third game of their four-game series against the Mets at 4:10 p.m. (PST) today at Shea Stadium. Dennis Rasmussen (3-4) and David Cone (8-5) are the scheduled pitchers.