Recuperating and Rehabbing Pitchers
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Fifteen year veteran starting pitcher Pedro Martinez, of the New York Mets, is working himself back into pitching form, little by little.
It was reported by AP for Sports Illustrated that;
The New York Mets ace lightly tossed a ball for about 10 minutes from a distance of about 45 feet at the Mets’ minor league complex.
“He looked good,” said Randy Niemann, the Mets’ rehabilitation pitching coordinator. “It’s just the beginning. It’s the start of a long process, but he looked really good.”
The 35-year-old Martinez went 9-8 last season with a 4.48 ERA. He had been doing the majority of his rehabilitation in the Dominican Republic during the past five months, making an occasional appearance at the Mets’ minor league complex in Port St. Lucie.
Martinez is not expected to rejoin the Mets’ rotation until the second half of the season.
In the meantime, Baltimore Orioles’ starting pitcher Kris Benson, about whom it was earlier reported that he suffered a partially torn rotator cuff during off-season workouts, has experienced more setbacks which seem to make it apparent that he may need surgery on his torn rotator cuff.
AP sports’ David Ginsburg reports for Yahoo;
Working on the advice of two doctors, Benson is attempting to rehabilitate the injury at spring training camp. If his bid is unsuccessful, the operation would force the right-hander to miss the 2007 season.
“I had a rough couple days,” Benson said Wednesday. “I don’t know if it’s just a little bump that I’m going through or what, but the last couple days have been pretty sore. … Whenever it gets flared up like it is, it’s tough to get that range of motion.”
After experiencing pain while throwing in the offseason, Benson initially resigned himself to surgery. But further examination determined that he might be able to ease the pain with a rehabilitation program.
He was working two hours daily with trainer Richie Bancells before taking a day off Sunday. Upon his return, Benson experienced far more pain than usual.
“When I came back the next day it was sore and I didn’t really do anything at all,” he said. “It was kind of reminiscent of the time that I did it when I was throwing. I didn’t really do anything different, it just kind of popped up out of nowhere. And then once again (Monday) it just popped up out of nowhere. It’s just tough to tell what’s going on with it.”
Benson knows this much: It’s not good.
Benson is due $7.5 million this year, the final guaranteed season of a $22.5 million, three-year contract. The Orioles hold a $7.5 million option for 2008 with a $500,000 buyout.
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