Kyle Kendrick

A CROSSROADS is no place to get sentimental, and the Phillies have the mother of all of them looming on the horizon. Forget about whether they can claw their way back into contention. What happens on the field over the next couple of months will have little impact on the dire situation that will greet them come November, when they will no longer have three of their most productive hitters in the order under contract. Second base, third base and catcher: Good luck filling them.

   

THREE MONTHS AGO, they would have closed their eyes and hoped for the best. Three years ago, they would have taken a bathroom break, fearing the worst. Giancarlo Stanton, who makes regular work of depositing baseballs over ballpark fences, stood at the plate with the bases loaded against Kyle Kendrick. The same Kyle Kendrick who had to spend a year in the minor leagues after winning a World Series ring. The same Kyle Kendrick who rebuilt himself as an effective big-league pitcher in the last 2 years but still couldn't finagle himself into a regular spot in the Phillies' rotation.

PHOENIX - Seven innings of two-run baseball on Sunday lowered Kyle Kendrick's ERA to 2.47. That mark ranks 10th in the National League. Every five days, he is making his case as one of the league's best pitchers. Has it sunk in yet? "No," Kendrick said after a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. "I was talking to Roy [Halladay] the other day in the outfield about when you're going like that, you don't think about it. You just move on. Like tomorrow, I'm going to get ready for my next start.

A couple of hours before Kyle Kendrick provided the Phillies with the kind of performance that is becoming standard for the underrated and underappreciated 28-year-old righthander, relief pitcher Chad Durbin recalled the running joke that used to be told about his teammate. "He's got two pitches: a sinker and a sinker," Durbin said. "It was half joke, but the reality was that his sinker was good enough that he could come up and get big-leaguers out with one pitch. He had some secondary pitches, but he didn't really need to go to them.

Kyle Kendrick signed a one-year deal with the Phillies Friday, avoiding salary arbitration. According to Scott Proefrock, the Phillies assistant general manager, the righthander's deal will pay him $3.585 million in 2012. Bouncing between the bullpen and the rotation in 2011, Kendrick went 8-6 with a career-best 3.22 ERA in 34 games. Pressed into duty as a starter after injuries to Joe Blanton and Roy Oswalt, Kendrick made 15 starts. The Phillies went 7-8 in those games.

IT WAS WELL into the season and the Phillies still didn't have a reliable No. 5 starter. They were hanging around a middle-class neighborhood called .500 and something had to be done to save what was starting to look like yet another season headed for pennantless frustration. Many eyebrows were arched when the men manipulating the joysticks summoned a minor league righthander who had not even been invited to spring training. The organization people liked his arm, but he had often lost focus on a sometimes bumpy climb through the bushes.

Kyle Kendrick will hope the main event goes better than the dress rehearsal. Kendrick, scheduled to start the Phillies home opener Friday, had one last spring tune up Saturday in the exhibition finale against the Toronto Blue Jays at Citizens Bank Park. The 10-4 loss wasn't the warm homecoming he wanted. Kendrick allowed five earned runs on six hits in three innings. He left the mound to sarcastic cheers after finally retiring the side in a four-run third inning. "The good thing is they don't count," Kendrick said.

ST. LOUIS - Kyle Kendrick typically has little room for error. He does not have overpowering stuff. His 4.24 strikeouts per nine innings are second fewest among National League starters. So really, Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee said, Kendrick is a pitcher who needs more consistency than others might. That hadn't happened of late. "He makes a lot of mistakes," Dubee said. "If you've got average stuff, you have to have good command. He has to learn to be able to get balls to certain parts of the plate.

After Friday's 13-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals in the Phillies' home opener, righthander Kyle Kendrick voiced his displeasure at being lifted with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth inning. The Phillies led, 4-2, but then Alex Gordon greeted reliever Jeremy Horst with a three-run triple. When Charlie Manuel was asked his opinion about Kendrick's complaint, the Phillies manager had a strong response. "I don't care what he says," Manuel said before Saturday's game at Citizens Bank Park against the Royals.

PHOENIX - Seven innings of two-run baseball on Sunday lowered Kyle Kendrick's ERA to 2.47. That mark ranks 10th in the National League. Every five days, he is making his case as one of the league's best pitchers. Has it sunk in yet? "No," Kendrick said after a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. "I was talking to Roy [Halladay] the other day in the outfield about when you're going like that, you don't think about it. You just move on. Like tomorrow, I'm going to get ready for my next start.

PHOENIX - After pitching in three of the previous four games, Mike Adams didn't warm up on Saturday, when fellow reliever Jonathan Papelbon pitched a five-out save. Yesterday, Adams wasn't available again. But this time it wasn't related to his workload. Adams is day-to-day with back spasms. The veteran set-up man said he first felt them while shagging in the outfield during batting practice before yesterday's game. "I felt it right at the end of BP . . . the last 5 minutes of BP it grabbed me," Adams said.

A CROSSROADS is no place to get sentimental, and the Phillies have the mother of all of them looming on the horizon. Forget about whether they can claw their way back into contention. What happens on the field over the next couple of months will have little impact on the dire situation that will greet them come November, when they will no longer have three of their most productive hitters in the order under contract. Second base, third base and catcher: Good luck filling them.

SAN FRANCISCO — In this ballpark by the bay about two years ago, Mick Billmeyer stopped Kyle Kendrick after a bullpen session. Kendrick was being shuttled between the bullpen and the rotation, and Billmeyer, then the bullpen coach, worried about his confidence. "Some guys," he told Kendrick, "are just late bloomers. " Kendrick remembered the message, and it is one repeated over and over as the 28-year-old Phillies pitcher achieves excellence. A 6-2 win over the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night served as the latest validation for Kendrick.

A couple of hours before Kyle Kendrick provided the Phillies with the kind of performance that is becoming standard for the underrated and underappreciated 28-year-old righthander, relief pitcher Chad Durbin recalled the running joke that used to be told about his teammate. "He's got two pitches: a sinker and a sinker," Durbin said. "It was half joke, but the reality was that his sinker was good enough that he could come up and get big-leaguers out with one pitch. He had some secondary pitches, but he didn't really need to go to them.

SAN FRANCISCO - Roy Halladay found refuge on the back of a plane. "I didn't get the opportunity to speak to Roy," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said from the visiting dugout at AT & T Park yesterday. "I got up and went back to look for him, but he was asleep. I didn't want to wake him up. " After pitching through one of the worst starts of his career, and then acknowledging his arm wasn't right afterward, Halladay slept on the team's charter flight from Philadelphia to San Francisco on Sunday.

Here is a year-by-year look at some of Kyle Kendrick's statistics. Kendrick, 3-1 with a 2.43 ERA in six starts this season, is 10-5 in his last 18 starts dating back to last season. He will pitch Tuesday night against the San Francisco Giants.                         Opp.        vs. Year       Record    ERA    avg. L.H. batters   SO per 9 IP 2007       10-4       3.87    .280       .321          3.6 2008       11-9       5.49    .304       .334          3.4 2009       3-1       3.42    .273       .267          5.1 2010       11-10       4.73    .283       .312          4.2 2011       8-6       3.22    .255       .234          4.6 2012       11-12       3.90    .254       .238          6.6 2013       3-1       2.43    .235       .233          6.4 - Bob Brookover SOURCE: BaseballReference.com

Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay denounced critical comments about Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee made by former Phillies reliever and current MLB Network analyst Mitch Williams. In a Friday radio interview on WIP-FM (94.1), Williams said the Phillies need a new pitching coach. "It is not personal," Williams said. "I think these pitchers have to hear something new. " The Phillies have struggled not only in pitching but all facets of the game. They entered Friday 26th in the major leagues with a 4.42 ERA. Halladay, one of the pitchers that Williams suggested hasn't been helped by Dubee, talked to reporters before Friday's game at Citizens Bank Park against the Miami Marlins.

Phillies centerfielder Ben Revere did not start for the first time this season in Thursday's 6-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citizens Bank Park. Revere said he has a quadriceps injury that worsened Wednesday during a 5-3 loss to the Pirates. He was asked if he expects to be in the lineup this weekend at Citi Field against the New York Mets. "I think so," Revere said. Manager Charlie Manuel "may give me one more day, but if I tell him I feel pretty good, he may put me in there [on Friday]