Martinez (illness) threw what manager Mike Shildt described as a "low-intensity live batting practice" Monday, and the team currently isn't planning to have him return as anything but a starter, Richard Justice of MLB.com reports. "Carlos wants to start, and I understand that, and I appreciate that," Shildt said. "Ultimately, we're going to perform with guys that have their heart in a certain position."
The right-hander and Shildt had a conversation about Martinez's role following the session, and the skipper's remarks imply he empathizes with Martinez's desire to start to the extent he's willing to forgo any potential plans to reintegrate him as a reliever. However, the tradeoff to that approach is that Martinez will require a longer buildup time before he's deemed ready for activation. "It's gonna take longer for him to just get back to being able to handle the load of what we would expect the starter to handle," Shildt said. "And candidly, we can't stay in a mode where we can just keep building guys up on the fly."