HOUSTON – The Mets claim they aren’t worried about Duaner Sanchez’s weakened arm, even though the set-up man’s velocity has dropped into the mid-80 mph range in recent weeks.

Sanchez threw in the mid-90s before a 2006 shoulder injury caused him to miss nearly two seasons, but he appeared to top out at 86 mph in one inning of work here Saturday.

“Sanchez is still getting over that wall,” Jerry Manuel said. “When he got hit in the knee in St. Louis [on July 1], he wasn’t able to do a lot of conditioning, and I think that set him back some. Now that he’s back doing that work, he’s getting back to the point where he can get a little more velocity.”