MET NOTES

PORT ST. LUCIE – It was only 30 pitches, but it was enough for Scott Strickland to get pretty excited.

“I’m so happy,” he said yesterday. “I was doing imaginary jumping jacks afterwards in my head.”

Strickland is the Met reliever who’s attempting to return from Tommy John surgery, and what had him so pumped was facing live major-league hitters for the first time in two years. He threw live BP and looked good, particularly when he broke Cliff Floyd’s bat.

Of greatest importance? Strickland came away from the test feeling strong.

“I couldn’t be happier,” he said. “Just got to keep it going.”

Strickland had the surgery June 17, 2003 and hasn’t pitched in the majors since. But he’s fully healthy now and said yesterday, “I really feel in my heart I’m on the upside again.”

Will that be enough to make the team? If not, the Mets could lose the hard-throwing righty. Strickland has an out in his contract if he’s not on the major league club by April 4 and said yesterday he’s not sure if he’d be willing to go to Triple-A.

For right now, Strickland is just happy to be throwing again.

“I’ve stolen, if you want to say, money [during the injury],” he said. “It’s not like I’ve been sitting eating potato chips. I’ve been busting my [butt] trying to get back and it hasn’t quite worked out.”

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Some Mets are not exactly thrilled with Willie Randolph’s new no-loud-music policy. Randolph, who said he hasn’t heard about it directly from players but admitted to having gotten wind of it, said he would certainly listen to any players who want to talk about it and said he could be flexible about it. Essentially, while the policy would not necessarily be changed, it’s not ironclad either.

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Jose Reyes said Carlos Beltran officially invited him to join him in working with Beltran’s personal trainer at Gold’s Gym (David Wright has also been invited). Reyes said he plans to go when his day at the park isn’t too packed, but if he works too much during the day, he may pass on the extra training to rest.

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Yesterday Carlos Delgado was at Tradition Field to film a spot with Beltran, Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe for the 2005 MLB Charities and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America campaign.

Asked about his decision to bypass the Mets for the Marlins, Delgado said, “What’s done is done. No sense crying over spilled milk. I made my decision, what was best for me at the time.”

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Sights and sounds of the day: Doug Mientkiewicz making a gorgeous barehand grab of a chopper between first and second before firing to second.

Martinez, wearing high socks and throwing live BP, getting Kaz Matsui to wave at a changeup.

First-round pick Philip Humber drilling Andres Galarraga in the arm and causing Randolph to say of the mammoth slugger, “He’s got those tremendous biceps. It probably hurt the ball more than him.”