OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Mark Mulder doesn’t plan to pitch again this season.

The Oakland Athletics’ star left-hander has a stress fracture in his right leg near the hip, but he played catch in the outfield for five minutes Saturday.

Yet Mulder didn’t consider his short workout to be progress.

“I couldn’t go out and pitch right now,” the 26-year-old Mulder said. “I’m really not thinking about (coming back). I’m trying to stay in shape and see how I feel. I’m not going to try to come back early if I can’t.”

Mulder’s comments reiterated what general manager Billy Beane said earlier in the week – Mulder probably won’t pitch again this year, even if the A’s go deep into October.

While the lanky lefty has been one of the brightest spots in Oakland’s awesome rotation this season, the A’s are going to be cautious with Mulder, who is in the second year of a four-year contract that takes him through 2005 with a club option for 2006.

There was no timeline for when Mulder would pitch off the mound. The A’s are dealing with a freak injury.

Still, trainer Larry Davis didn’t rule out Mulder pitching again this year. Mulder is doing about six hours of physical therapy a day and needs to get his strength up first, Davis said.

“This is obviously a very valuable property we have,” Davis said. “We’re going to safeguard his health. All we’re doing is evaluating him on a daily basis. Our idea is to bring him along slowly. The objective is for Mark to be healthy and to be healthy for the long term. … We’re not going to put this guy out there with a chance to fail.”

Team doctor Jerrald Goldman said Mulder is pain-free and shouldn’t be at any further risk.

“If he keeps making progress, we’ll keep letting him make progress,” Goldman said.

Being sidelined in September isn’t new for Mulder, who missed the final month of his rookie season in 2000 with a herniated disc in his back from a weightlifting accident.

Mulder is 15-9 with a 3.13 ERA in 26 starts. He had been one of the most consistent of Oakland’s starters before getting hurt.

“You don’t want to impact 2004 no matter what you do,” Davis said.

AP-ES-09-20-03 1743EDT