Pedro Martinez threw two innings for the Dominican Republic Wednesday during a 6-1 loss to Baltimore, a tuneup game for the World Baseball Classic.

He gave up two runs, three hits, and one walk while striking out two. He told New York Newsday that he feels great.

“I’m still a little bit off with the pitches and getting the feel of the game, but as far as health, I feel great,” he said.

Martinez hopes to parlay the WBC into a contract with someone – anyone – that would make him feel “respected.” That means he’s not willing to take a $1 million deal to pitch for a year to show Major League Baseball that he is capable of staying healthy for a full season.

The problem there is that Martinez hasn’t pitched more than 30 games in a season, nor reached 200 innings since 2005.

He’s 17-15 in 48 starts – usually the equivalent of a season-and-a-half – during the last three seasons. His ERAs the last three years have been 4.48, 2.57 (in 28 innings) and 5.61 and his WHIPs have been 1.11, 1.43, and 1.57.

Now, there are a lot of legitimate questions about whether or not Martinez can stay healthy. And he’s also reportedly had issues with a bit of an overly sensitive and somewhat prickly personality over the years.

If he can, there’s no doubt he could still come in and be a factor on the back end of a starting rotation, as well as possibly a veteran presence and mentor for a collection of young guys who are just starting out.

Unlike Tom Glavine, who signed last month for a $1 million base salary with incentives that could bring the deal to $4.5 million (including $1 million the first day he appears on the Major League roster), Martinez has expressed that for $1 million, he’d rather go fishing than pitch ballgames.

That’s too bad. There’s a dearth of real Major League pitching out there these days. He could be a contributor if he could swallow his pride. Sometimes, however, with professional athletes that remains a little too much to ask.