By now you probably know all about Dillon Gee’s blood-clot surgery and the probability he won’t be back for awhile. While off-days and the lengthy All-Star Break assure we wouldn’t necessarily need a fifth starter for another week or so already there’s much speculation this means the impending promotion of Matt Harvey or even Zack Wheeler amid fears that instead it’ll be Miguel Batista or Jeremy Hefner. And no matter what, it slathers an extra helping of intrigue over the possibility the Mets make a trade in the coming weeks: the deadline is less than 3 weeks away.

In the immediate future there’s a the matter of what number Josh Edgin will wear. You might recall this beefy lefthanded relief prospect from Spring Training, when a surprisingly strong performance had him elevated from the longshotty No. 87 to the respectable No. 54 before a late cut relegated him to the minors. The issue since then is that bullpen catcher Dave Racianello has been wearing 54 (despite what its says on the Mets official roster), so it looks as though Edgin will need another number: 20, 22, 32, 38, and 64 are still available.