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BRADENTON, Fla. - Paul Maholm has no idea what his future holds. As far as everything else in his life goes, he can see it all quite clearly.

That's good news for the Pirates' 22-year-old left-handed pitching prospect who had two surgeries last year to repair a fractured orbital bone near his left eye.

Maholm is making a nice recovery after being drilled in the face by a line drive while pitching at Class A Lynchburg.

Maholm said on the first day of mini-camp Wednesday that his vision has returned to normal and he's been cleared to do normal baseball-related activities.

"I'll be getting into a throwing program soon like everyone else," said Maholm, the Pirates' first-round draft pick in 2003. "I should be 100 percent by spring training."

Maholm's promising first full minor-league season was sidetracked - and his career placed in jeopardy - on May 15 when he couldn't get out of the way of a line drive by Winston-Salem's Casey Rogowski.

The shot left Maholm with a broken nose and fractured orbital bone. Extensive surgery was required, and Maholm was sidelined for more than two months. He returned late in the minor-league season to make three starts at low-Class A Hickory, but went 0-2 with a 9.49 ERA before the Pirates shut him down for the season.

Another surgery was required in September to correct Maholm's vision problems.

Although Maholm is fine physically, that is only one aspect of his recovery.

"Our concern is mentally how he reacts to it," said Brian Graham, the Pirates' director of player development. "There will be situations when balls will be hit back at him."

Maholm already dealt with that issue when he was preparing to make his return to Hickory.

"I threw behind an 'L' screen and was getting used to it when one of the first hitters I faced hit one right over my head," Maholm said. "It didn't bother me at all."

Maholm is more concerned about making up for lost time and reaching the upper levels of the farm system. Chances are he'll return to Lynchburg to start this season. He was 1-3 with a 1.84 ERA in eight starts with the Hillcats prior to his injury.

"I wanted to move up in the middle of (last) year," he said. "I have the mindset of making them want to move me and not whine about if I'm at Hickory or Lynchburg. If I pitch well enough, they'll move me up."

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