On the Mets beat

That's what the Mets hope to be doing anyway as we finish off this Labor Day weekend. Here's a few notes from this morning:

-- The Pedro Rules? Pedro Martinez returned to New York to work out this week at Shea with his trainer, Chris Correnti,who already has been supervising Billy Wagner. Speaking of the injured closer, he may take this mound this afternoon for a side session. If Wagner actually does, it will be a landmark day in his comeback attempt -- good or bad. Assistant GM John Ricco said there is nothing wrong with Pedro. Just with the added callups, and Martinez preparing for his next start, they had the flexibility to have him go back.

-- The hard-throwing Bobby Parnell may be used in the back end of the bullpen, but not in a pivotal situation, at least not yet. Parnell's only relief appearance was his last game at Triple-A New 0rleans this season, so he doesn't have a ton of experience there. As for the bullpen, these games could get much looooooonger. Knowing Jerry Manuel's penchant for late-inning matchups, and now even more relievers in the 'pen -- including another lefthander Ricardo Rincon -- they should just leave the bullpen door open.

"I've got to get some new tennis shoes," Manuel joked about his trips to the mound. "I've worn out the tread on these."

-- Manuel started Damion Easley today against Ben Sheets -- a change of plans from the platoon -- and moved him down to seventh to help break up the usual bunch of lefthanded hitters, which the manager believes had become too vulnerable to another team's LH relievers. Daniel Murphy is up to the No. 2 slot for the fourth time this season. As for Castillo, Manuel said that he was looking a little stiff on the hard dirt surface of Dolphin Stadium, and wanted to give him a break.

-- It was surprising to see infielder Ramon Martinez among today's call-ups, but as a natural shortstop, Manuel explained that he could be used to spell Jose Reyes late in blowouts. Getting Reyes a breather here and there might be helpful. The fact that he appeared to run out of gas a year ago during the September collapse is not something the Mets would like to see repeated. If you don't remember the numbers, they weren't pretty:

September 2007:................ .205 BA (24-for-117) … 18 R … 5-for-9 SB…… .279 OBP
Collapse (Sept. 12-30)..........187 (14-75) …………….. 11 R …. 2-for-3 SB …...282 OBP