Sam Donnellon: Kendrick provides Phillies dependable insurance

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The Phillies are a team of "ifs" this season, maybe more than they have been in this golden age of theirs. They don't know if Chase Utley can ever return to the power-hitting .300 presence he once was or what kind of year they can expect from Ryan Howard and his healing Achilles'. They don't know what to expect from Joe Blanton, don't know if Vance Worley can repeat last season's success. They don't know if John Mayberry can be as productive in a more regular role, whether Jim Thome can or even needs to play some first base.

They don't know if Michael Stutes and Antonio Bastardo can give them another season like last year's, don't know what Dontrelle Willis still has, don't know if Placido Polanco has any tread left on his beaten-down body, don't even know if Jonathan Papelbon is really much of an upgrade from Ryan Madson.

Phew.

But there are two kinds of "ifs" in baseball. There are the "ifs" that lead to a house of cards, one failed hope dooming the list of others, dooming the team clinging to them. And then there are the "ifs" that lead to buts, or, more specifically, options.

"The one interesting part for me this spring is that we've got a lot of pieces," pitching coach Rich Dubee was saying yesterday. "We've got a lot of guys who are knocking on the door . . . We've got a pretty good inventory of bullpen guys. It will be an interesting spring to see how they progress and who steps forward."

Amid that landscape, Kyle Kendrick - still just 27 years old - was signed to a 2-year, $7.5 million contract yesterday with his job description changing only marginally. If Blanton is healthy and Worley repeats last season's success, Kendrick will again be a spot starter and a long man in the bullpen, the one deviation being Dubee's pledge to "experiment" with him in a seventh-inning role to keep him sharp.

But . . .

If Blanton's a no-go, or the Phillies find a team to trade him to, or major league hitters adjust to Worley this season the way they did to Kendrick in his second go-around, then the Phillies' oft-maligned righthander might end up with more than the 15 starts he had last year, might finally gain that steady starting spot that seemed a foregone conclusion after his 10-4 rookie campaign in 2007.

"Whatever they want me to do," Kendrick said during a news conference at Bright House Field following the first official pitchers and catchers workout. "Whether it's to start or the middle or the seventh inning . . . As long as I'm pitching."