Victor Martinez progressing, takes BP (VIDEO)

Well this is quite a welcome sight. Victor Martinez‘s rehab is progressing well enough for him to take batting practice on the field before the Detroit Tigers’ Spring Training tussle with the Toronto Blue Jays this morning.

Watch Victor swing away courtesy of our friends over at MLive.

Doctors cleared V-Mart for BP and he wasted no time getting into the cage. Though he took some swings at the tee and received some soft tosses over the last couple of weeks, this was the first time facing live pitches since the surgery on his left knee last month.

The time for recovery after the surgery was 4-6 weeks, which was truly best case scenario for the high-priced veteran who re-signed in the offseason for four-years, $68 million.

Martinez hit from both sides of the plate and received pitches thrown by Tigers’ legend, now special assistant, Alan Trammell. He took Tram yard twice. One of the balls that left the park struck the scoreboard.

For a competitor like V-Mart, any time off the field is a bad thing.

“I wanted to just try to let it go a little bit at the end. That’s always going to feel good. At the same time, I know my game. Last year was last year. Everything I was hitting was going out. But I’ve been in the league long enough to know my game. That’s why in BP I just hit gap to gap and work on hitting line drives. The rest will happen. “It’s been tough, but it is what it is. It’s what I have to do to get ready.”

While Victor Martinez taking batting practice is surely a good sign, it is hard from a certainty that the 36 year old will be ready by Opening Day. The 4-6 week window would technically put him back into game shape in about two weeks until just before Opening Day, but the Tigers clearly don’t want to rush the recovery.

As with Miguel Cabrera, who is coming along well, if he missed Opening Day it will be a slight disappointment, but pushing too hard and losing his services for longer would be devastating.

Next: Gose has fantastic first week