Martinez To Take Mound
Pedro Martinez will make his first rehab start tomorrow as he attempts to return to the Mets' rotation after off-season shoulder surgery.
The 35-year-old Martinez had his rotator cuff repaired in October and has been working toward a return all season. The right-hander first threw to batters on June 26.
The three-time Cy Young winner was scheduled to make a rehab start last Wednesday, but it was rained out and he instead threw 5 1/3 innings of a simulated game against minor leaguers the following day.
In the simulation, Martinez gave up two runs — one earned — and four hits against players from the St. Lucie Mets and the Gulf Coast League Mets. In 67 pitches, he struck out three, walked none and hit a batter.
"Really, I thought the encouraging part for me guys was the back of those innings," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said at the time. "The back of those innings when he was throwing the fastball down and away with the movement, that's Pedro."
Most of Martinez's fastballs were from 86-88 mph, Minaya said.
"Anything that we get from Pedro this year is extra," he said. "We're not saying that he's going to come back and be this guy that's going to get us to the next level."
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Umpires are balking at baseball's attempt to widen background checks in the wake of the NBA's referee betting scandal.
In exchange for an agreement to allow credit checks, the World Umpires Association asked Major League Baseball to add a seventh umpire to each postseason crew. Negotiations broke down during a meeting last week.
"We strongly indicated the fact that we were offended by the effort to trade economics against integrity," said Rob Manfred, baseball's executive vice president of labor relations.
After the NBA acknowledged last month that the FBI is investigating referee Tim Donaghy for betting on games, baseball officials reviewed how they monitor their umpires. The commissioner's office asked umps to sign authorizations for the background checks, and both the major league union and the Association of Minor League Umpires told their members not to sign the forms.
