LAKE BUENA VISTA – While most of his teammates made the two-hour drive to Orlando for Mets-Braves game yesterday, Pedro Martinez was back in Port St. Lucie passing his first test.
Martinez, who provided a small measure of fear on Friday night when he was scratched from his start due to lower back stiffness, showed up at the Mets’ complex yesterday and went to work. The ace righty worked out in the pool, did therapy and perhaps most importantly, played catch for up to 90 feet away.
According to GM Omar Minaya, Martinez “felt fine” after playing catch. And while yesterday’s news might not sound like much, it’s certainly encouraging progress.
“Everything was fine,” Minaya said. “Just another positive day.”
If yesterday was step one, today will likely be step two. Minaya said Martinez will “probably” throw on flat ground today.
Martinez said on Friday night that he would make his next start “without a doubt,” noting several times that the stiffness was no great concern. Yesterday’s update seemed to confirm that even further.
Manager Willie Randolph added yesterday that Martinez’s next start will likely be Tuesday. Asked yesterday if he was relieved by Martinez’s update, Randolph indicated he was never worried in the first place.
“It’s always a relief when guys are feeling strong and comfortable,” Randolph said. “From the get-go, I didn’t have any concern about it. I spoke to Pedro [and] he relayed to me that he was fine, just mild stiffness. . . . We need to keep him on his next turn and get him ready for the season.”
Martinez was on the disabled list for several ailments in Boston, the most notable of which was a partially torn labrum in 2001. But the pitcher said on Friday that he had never experienced the back stiffness before, and former Red Sox doctor Bill Morgan echoed that to The Post yesterday.
“Back problems were never an issue for him,” said Morgan, who was with Boston for all seven of Martinez’s seasons (1998-2004). Morgan also said that from what he had heard, Martinez’s stiffness sounded minor.
That’s certainly an enormous sigh of relief for the Mets. The club is counting on Martinez to anchor the pitching staff, and that’s become even more evident with Steve Trachsel’s back injury likely keeping him out all season and Victor Zambrano’s spring being inconsistent and wild so far.
Martinez made 33 starts last season, logging 217 innings. If the Mets lost him for any length of time, that would pretty much be a disaster.
“It goes without saying that he’s important to us,” Randolph said. “But I don’t panic. I don’t panic over stuff like that. I go with what I’ve got.”
Martinez indicated on Friday that by this time in spring training, everybody typically feels something, and this stiffness is merely that. It’s also worth noting that not only has spring training been going on for almost six weeks, but as Minaya said on Friday, “He’s been here longer than anybody else.” Indeed, Martinez reported to camp eight days early.
Martinez has been superb on the mound this spring, allowing just two earned runs in 11 innings, good for a 1.64 ERA. That inning total, however, is below that of fellow starters Kris Benson (18 frames), Tom Glavine (142/3) and Zambrano (13). The way things are looking, though, Martinez should be on his way to throwing more innings soon.