FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) – Bartolo Colon wants to show teams that thought he was finished that there’s plenty left in that once dependable right arm. He’s already shown his new manager.

After two days of playing catch with his new pitching coach, the 2005 AL Cy Young award winner has impressed Red Sox manager Terry Francona.

“Very pleased,” Francona said Wednesday, “(He’s) probably a little bit ahead of where we expect him to be.”

Those throwing sessions with John Farrell put Colon on schedule to pitch in a game in less than two weeks, probably March 9, the pitcher said.

Boston is scheduled to face the Los Angeles Dodgers in an exhibition game that day, but neither Colon nor the team said whether he would pitch against them or in a minor-league game.

Starting the season with Boston appears to be a longshot, but the Red Sox are encouraged by the pitcher who was limited to 29 games the last two seasons by shoulder and elbow injuries.

Colon missed last year’s playoffs because of an inflamed elbow.

Farrell said the burly right-hander needs to lose weight, but Colon said Wednesday his conditioning already is good enough to pitch in a game.

“He feels ready now,” Colon, a native of the Dominican Republic said through a translator, “He’s going to throw a bullpen (session) on Tuesday so he feels like he’s ready to go.”

Colon threw at least 200 innings in eight of his nine seasons before 2006.

Now he’s eager to show teams that felt he was washed up that they were wrong.

“A lot of teams were saying that he couldn’t still pitch,” the translator said, “so he’s trying to take this opportunity to show all those teams that he still can pitch.”

Colon didn’t need surgery in the offseason and has a 146-95 record with a 4.10 ERA since starting with Cleveland in 1997. He also pitched for Montreal, the Chicago White Sox and the Angels, who let him become a free agent when his four-year, $51 million contract expired after last season.

Despite his impressive career, teams didn’t show much interest. The Red Sox did.

“There were other teams offering (contracts), but Boston was the only team that approached him aggressively and gave him the opportunity to pitch,” the translator said.

So he signed a minor league contract worth just $1.2 million if he’s added to the 40-man roster.

He also can earn roster and performance bonuses.

The presence of players like David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and Julio Lugo helped seal the deal.

“That was a big part of this decision,” the translator said, “being a part of such a strong group of Latino players here with Boston.”

Colon “felt very good” in his last game on Feb. 6, going 4 2-3 innings in the Caribbean World Series, but hadn’t thrown much after that.

The Red Sox’ need for pitching depth grew when Curt Schilling injured his shoulder in the offseason.

He is on a rehabilitation program and is expected to miss at least half the season.

On Wednesday, the team checked out 31-year-old right-hander Freddy Garcia, who had season-ending shoulder surgery last June after going 1-5 for Philadelphia. The two-time All-Star had stopped throwing in hopes of avoiding surgery and began rehabbing then decided to have the operation.

Schilling also wanted to have shoulder surgery, but the team insisted that he rehab. He has a one-year, $8 million contract.

In 2006, Garcia was 17-9 with a 4.53 ERA for the White Sox.

The Red Sox wanted to do “our due diligence” by having their medical personnel examine Garcia, Francona said. “You just don’t know what’s going to happen down the road and I think we just try to cover every base.”

The Red Sox start spring training games Thursday.

The rotation features Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, who pitched a no-hitter in his second major league start last September. Julian Tavarez could challenge for the fifth spot.

They don’t want to rush Colon into action but he appears healthy, Francona said.

“He went through all the stuff with the medical staff,” the manager said.

“He’s very compliant and came through it, I’d say, with flying colors.”