Pedro Set For Mid-Season Return

Pedro Martinez has been pumping iron and working out 4-5 hours a day for the past 3 1/2 months. He believes he has "100% flexibility in his arm and totally sexy rehabbed, calves" following last October's surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in his pitching arm.

Martinez, 35, has put on 12 pounds of man-muscle from his workout regime, but won't begin throwing a baseball until next month and won't return to the New York Mets' rotation until June or July, at the earliest. Pedro has two more years left on his contract and appears to be leaning towards retirement once it expires, telling the New York Daily News that he won't pitch beyond 40.

The future Hall-of-Famer had a 9-8 record and 4.48 ERA in 23 games last season, striking out 137 batters in 132 innings pitched. He is a career 206-92 with a 2.81 ERA in fifteen major league seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox and Mets.

[New York Daily News]