PORT ST. LUCIE –- Thursday and Friday will be crunch time for Duaner Sanchez.

Willie Randolph made that clear yesterday by saying the Mets’ young reliever could open the season on the disabled list if his surgically repaired right shoulder doesn’t hold up well over the next two days.

The Mets want to see how Sanchez’s arm holds up in a scheduled relief appearance here Thursday against the Orioles and how he is feeling the day after.

Sanchez has not pitched in a regular-season game since a July 2006 taxi accident in Miami prompted two surgeries on the shoulder.