"When the door to the Mets' clubhouse opened Tuesday afternoon, seated among a group of players was a familiar face – Carlos Delgado.

Delgado made the drive from Vail, where he has spent the last eight weeks rehabilitating from his second hip surgery in the last year. He underwent the first procedure on his labrum May 19 last season and was thought to be out for 10 weeks, but it cost him the season.

Delgado played winter ball in Puerto Rico, trying to earn another contract. But still sore and dragging, he opted for a more intensive procedure performed by Dr. Marc Phillipon, the same surgeon who operated on Alex Rodriguez. It was a reconstruction of the labrum, and Delgado has spent eight weeks on crutches.

"I was functional and I could play, but it was kind of like, it was a drag," he said. "You figure that if you haven't started the season yet and it's a little sore, it's going to be a long season. So I wanted to get at least a second opinion and figure out what it was. I was presented the option, so I figured the smartest thing to do was try to get it fixed instead of just dealing with all the symptoms, trying to get to the root of the problem."

Delgado said he hopes to play this season, but is far off from thinking about it.

"I don't want to think that far in advance," he said."