SAN FRANCISCO — They’re not exactly the Go-Go Mets just yet, but they’re getting there.

Fresh off a team-record seven steals here Thursday night in a 7-4 win over the Giants that got this 10-game trip off to a rousing start, Jerry Manuel and his club are promising more where that came from.

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They want to put it in the head of opposing pitchers throughout baseball that the Mets — and that means just about anybody on the team – are a threat to steal at any time.

“That shows you we can play a different type of game,” Manuel said of the seven steals Thursday even though the Mets were without leading base-stealer Jose Reyes, who wasn’t in the starting lineup again with a calf injury. “That’s what we’ll need to do when we’re lacking power and that type of thing.”

That’s a strong signal from the manager that the Mets will be stealing bases madly this season, because they are on the verge of losing Carlos Delgado’s power for at least a 15-day disabled list stint, and possibly much longer due to a hip injury.

The Mets said they planned to wait until Sunday to decide on Delgado, but Manuel said a move is likely to come Saturday with the slugger’s hip impingement showing little improvement.

The only thing seemingly still in question with Delgado is if he will need surgery on the hip, which could knock him out of action for two months or longer.

It’s hard to imagine the Mets being much more aggressive on the bases than they have been this season. They began play last night first in the NL and third in the majors with 36 steals in their first 34 games.

The Mets had stolen at least one base in 13 of their previous 15 games before last night, and trailed Tampa Bay (57 steals) and the Angels (42) by a wide margin in the standings.

But if the Mets remain off the torrid pace set by those two teams, it won’t be due to a lack of effort. Manuel is so intent on getting his team moving on the basepaths that he had 40-year-old Gary Sheffield steal Thursday.

The result was Sheffield’s first stolen base of the season and his 10th since the 2007 season, when the slugger was with Detroit.

The bigger star Thursday in the steals department was David Wright, who tied a franchise record by snatching four bases. He became the first Met since Roger Cedeno in 1999 to steal four bases in a game.

Wright, who stole 34 bases in 2007 before having his total dip to 15 last year, is eager to make that a strength again.

“Jerry’s preached aggressiveness on the basepaths all year, and you take advantage of your opportunities,” Wright said. “We’ve been aggressive late in the game all season, and I like that. I like putting pressure on the defense and keeping the opposing pitcher on his toes by focusing on the baserunner. I hope we keep that up.”

Manuel doesn’t want the Mets to be reckless on the basepaths or commit crucial blunders from over-aggressiveness like Reyes famously did Wednesday, when he tried to go to third base on a ground ball to shortstop against the Braves.

But Manuel trusts his players to run at pivotal times when they feel comfortable with their chances, witnessed by Carlos Beltran’s crucial steal of third base in the ninth inning here Thursday.

Beltran’s stolen base enabled him to score easily with what proved to be the winning run on a single two batters later by Wright.

Even if Beltran wasn’t successful with that steal, Manuel said he wouldn’t have minded.

“You have to be ready to take it either way, because you want to see the aggressiveness,” Manuel said. “Even if he had gotten thrown out, you have to applaud the effort. You want to see people pushing the envelope. That’s what we have to do.”