NEW YORK — Carlos Delgado could be put on the disabled list by the New York Mets as soon as Friday because of his injured right hip.

Delgado missed his third straight start Wednesday against Atlanta, and Mets manager Jerry Manuel said the team likely would make a decision before Friday's series opener at San Francisco.

"I think he's still somewhat sore, more than anything else," Manuel said. "I'm not confident at all. I don't want to be a pessimist, but because of the reoccurrence, it's not comforting — or I'm not confident in the fact that it will be OK. But if it's something we can manage, which is what we're trying to do, then I'm OK with that."

Manuel wasn't worried that Delgado's hip would become even more painful during a cross-country plane ride.

"How else you going to get to the West Coast? Take a horse?" he said.

Delgado was injured April 26 while sliding during a triple against Washington. He missed five straight starts, then returned to the lineup May 4 and played seven straight games — all won by the Mets — before the pain became too great. The 36-year-old cleanup hitter is batting .298 with four homers and 23 RBIs.

Manuel hasn't started to think about a replacement for Delgado on the active roster.

"We would probably need another position player. Obviously, for me, it would probably be a left-handed hitter. And obviously, hopefully, a pretty good hitter," Manuel said. "We're hoping that we don't have to go that way. We're hoping. We're trying to take every measure that we can to not go that way. But at some point over this next couple days we're going to have to explore those options."