Bobby Cox impressed by Glavine’s progress

Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — Tom Glavine didn’t blow away the young Braves he faced in Monday’s five-inning intrasquad game, but the veteran left-hander accomplished what he set out to do.

Working in game conditions for the first time since August, he allowed one run and two hits with two strikeouts in two innings at Champion Stadium, on an off day in the Braves’ Grapefruit League schedule.

Glavine, who turns 43 next week, certainly wouldn’t have lit up radar guns with his fastball Monday, but manager Bobby Cox was pleased with his progress since he threw batting practice last week.

“Much more impressed by him today,” he said after Glavine threw 26 strikes in 38 pitches against the likes of prospects Gorkys Hernandez and Cody Johnson.

“That’s a great start for him, in his first time out with cleanup of his elbow and shoulder,” added Cox, who tentatively plans to pitch him Saturday in a Grapefruit League game against the Mets.

His counterpart Monday was lefty Jo-Jo Reyes, who allowed two runs, five hits and one walk in five innings, including Brooks Conrad’s two-run homer.

Glavine, baseball’s only active 300-game winner, had September surgeries to repair a torn flexor tendon in his elbow and remove debris from his shoulder. He was 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA in 13 starts.

He’s penciled in as the No. 5 starter and won’t be needed him until April 18. Glavine believes he can be ready by then.

He said he “let it go” on two second-inning fastballs Monday, to get past the reluctance he’d felt during batting practice.

“Not to say that today was 100-percent max effort,” Glavine said. “I mean, I don’t pitch that way. But it was a little bit closer to 100 percent on a few pitches, to get a sense of how it felt. It felt pretty good.”

Glavine may have to rely more than ever on location and guile to be successful.

“I have to keep in mind —and everybody else has to keep in mind — I’m not getting ready for April 5,” he said. “I’m getting ready for April 18. I’ve still got another five weeks of spring training, even though everybody else only has three.

“I’m probably going to have two, maybe three more rehab starts once the season starts, so I’ve got plenty of time.”