After Pedro Martinez opts to sign with the Mets, Curt Schilling says his recovery from ankle surgery might not allow him to pitch until May.

09:39 AM EST on Wednesday, December 15, 2004

BY SEAN McADAM and ART MARTONE
Journal Sports Writers

Journal file photo

Top starter Curt Schilling, working against the Cardinals in the World Series, won't be ready to pitch for the Red Sox by Opening Day.

BOSTON -- The Red Sox' pitching rotation, down a No. 2 starter after Pedro Martinez's decision to sign with the Mets, will be missing a No. 1 when the 2005 season begins.

Curt Schilling told WEEI Radio yesterday that his recovery from ankle surgery is going slower than expected, and that he might not be able to pitch in a game until May.

"I just moved into a boot this past weekend and I was told . . . I will not be allowed to rotate my ankle in and out for another four to five weeks," he said on the Dennis and Callahan Show. "So I'm looking at least another month before I start throwing, which puts me a month behind."

Schilling said he normally begins his offseason throwing program on Dec. 15, which is today. Now he won't be able to begin throwing until Jan. 15, at the earliest.

"Lots can change once [the ankle] comes out of a cast and I get going, and I know I've been a quick healer," said Schilling. "But as of right now the timetable looks something later than Opening Day."

Schilling underwent surgery Nov. 9 to repair a ruptured tendon sheath on his right ankle. The injury, which he says occurred in his final regular-season start, became aggravated in his victory over the Angels in Game 1 of the American League Division Series and hampered him in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Yankees.

It appeared after that game he wouldn't be able to pitch again in the postseason, but team doctors sutured the area with stitches, allowing Schilling to pitch -- and win -- Game 6 of the ALCS in New York and Game 2 of the World Series against the Cardinals in Boston.

Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to spring training on Feb. 20, and the Sox originally had said that they expected Schilling to be recovered by then. But team president and CEO Larry Lucchino said yesterday the news isn't completely surprising.

"There was always some uncertainty about it and there still is some uncertainty about it," Lucchino told the Associated Press. "It's several months away and it's very hard to calibrate with any specificity exactly when someone's going to heal and get in condition."