PHILADELPHIA – The next step for Pedro Martinez will take place tomorrow with a bullpen session, a development that also helps clarify his timetable.
Martinez’ bullpen session will be in Atlanta in Turner Field, so the Mets will be able to observe it. Although what happens after that is to be determined, it’s now easier to figure things out.
Martinez almost is certainly going to get a fifth rehab start, and with the bullpen session scheduled for tomorrow, it’s now more likely the start will be on Monday. That figures to come for Single-A Brooklyn or Double-A Binghamton.
It probably will be Martinez’s last rehab start, and since his last two rehab starts have been on Mondays, it could mean he’ll start for the Mets on Monday, Sept. 10 at Shea against the Braves. The other possibility would be Sunday, Sept. 9 at Shea against the Astros.
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The frontrunner for this Saturday’s start against the Braves is Mike Pelfrey, though Philip Humber also is a candidate.
Both could have potentially landmark days – Pelfrey is winless this season (0-7, 5.92 ERA), while Humber never has started in the majors (he’s appeared only in relief).
Regardless, both Pelfrey and Humber will be called up in September.
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Jose Reyes had played in 130 of the Mets’ first 131 games heading into last night and he was in the lineup again last night.
“He won’t go all the way through,” Willie Randolph said of the rest of the season, “but when you’re playing the Phillies and Braves, no one’s looking for off days.”
David Wright also had played in the same number of games. Both players, as it happened, were hitless in the first two games with the Phillies.
On Tuesday, Carlos Beltran was hit by a pitch in his right rib and received postgame X-rays. Said Beltran yesterday, “Everything was good.”