Slugger Victor Martinez, trying to recover from inflammation in his left knee, took batting practice with the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday but emphasized that he doesn't know the timetable for his return.

"It's a lot better, way better than when I left," said Martinez, who returned after three weeks of rehab. "No doubt about it. But like I say, we don't know the timetable."

Martinez, who had his third surgery on that knee in February after tearing the medial meniscus, was placed on the 15-day disabled list on May 19.

The Tigers remain hopeful that he'll soon begin a minor league rehab stint before returning to Detroit.

"We will see how he works, and hopefully he'll be wearing a Tigers uniform sooner than later," manager Brad Ausmus told reporters.

"It's just a matter of seeing if he looks normal when he plays. I don't know if we necessarily have to ease him in, like one at-bat today, two at-bats tomorrow. It's just a matter of if he looks all right when he plays."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.