Rich Dubee

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Roy Halladay threw his regular, in-between-starts bullpen session Wednesday while the vast majority of the Phillies enjoyed a rare day off. It was the first time Halladay took the mound since departing his start Sunday with a stomach illness after just one inning. Halladay said he lost about 10 pounds as a result of the bug, which sapped him of energy and strength before he resumed baseball activities Tuesday. On Wednesday, pitching coach Rich Dubee watched the two-time Cy Young Award winner's mound session.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Morning bled into afternoon Wednesday, and Roy Halladay worked in an empty weight room at Bright House Field. This was a scheduled day off for his teammates. But after a stomach virus robbed Halladay of strength and mound time, there was no rest. Halladay wants to start the second game of the 2013 season on April 3. He threw a bullpen session Wednesday morning. He will start a minor-league game Saturday in Clearwater rather than appear in the Grapefruit League game in Sarasota that day. With less than two weeks until meaningful baseball, the Phillies are easing Halladay along.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - For guys like Roy Halladay, Mike Stutes and Phillippe Aumont, the next week is as much of a stretch run as a baseball player can experience in March. For Domonic Brown, the heavy lifting is done. We can say all of this with a fair amount of certainty after spending Thursday afternoon taking the temperature inside the coaches' offices at Bright House Field. Manager Charlie Manuel still isn't ready to proclaim Brown an everyday corner outfielder, but that's pretty much what he did when he hung up the lineup for that night's game in Fort Myers against the Red Sox. Fort Myers is the longest bus trip of the spring, and most players would rather not make it, and this trip is particularly bad because the game is at night, which means the team bus probably won't be getting back to Clearwater until after midnight.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Roy Halladay started on the foul line and jogged toward center field. He was alone Tuesday morning, with only two conditioning coaches to watch his movements on a back field. He repeated his route again and again, jogging in one direction and walking in the other. Less than two weeks until the season starts, this was progress for Halladay. For days, he could not digest any food. A stomach virus cut 10 pounds from his frame. But last Sunday night, when he spoke to Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., Halladay was most upset about his inability to throw more than 25 pitches.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - For 2 full years, the two surest forces in Philadelphia were the gravitational constant and Roy Halladay. Nothing that happened on Sunday afternoon is an indication that has changed. Halladay showed up to the ballpark feeling ill, insisted on making his start, then realized shortly after his first pitch that the whole thing was going to be an exercise in counterproductivity. So he left the game after a scoreless first inning, 25 pitches to his credit, 13 of them strikes.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The composition of the Phillies' pitching staff appeared to come into focus Sunday morning, when three relievers were sent to minor league camp shortly after the sun rose at the Carpenter Complex. Justin De Fratus, Jake Diekman and Cesar Jimenez were among four players shipped to the minor league clubhouse, along with infielder Josh Fields. Diekman and De Fratus were on the short list of candidates for big-league jobs. The dwindling numbers of pitchers in major league camp left five competing for three openings in the bullpen: righthanders Phillippe Aumont, Mike Stutes, Zach Miner and lefthanders Jeremy Horst and Raul Valdes.

CLEARWATER, Fla. – Roy Halladay felt something much worse than lethargic Sunday. He felt sick to his stomach. "I didn't notice anything until we started walking to the dugout," catcher Erik Kratz said following the Phillies' 5-3 Grapefruit League win over the Baltimore Orioles. "And then he went in the dugout, and he said he was going to stay in the tunnel for the anthem. " The stomach virus was taking control. Halladay, coming off a shaky outing in which his lack of velocity and command raised some red flags about the two-time Cy Young Award winner's physical condition, opted to take the mound in the top of the first inning anyway.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Roy Halladay talked for quite some time after his turbulent 22/3 innings Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers. He insisted that his lack of velocity and loss of command could all be dismissed as by-products of a tired arm and body. He had a different workout routine this offseason and threw two bullpens between his March 6 start against Washington and his infamous March 12 assignment against the Tigers. He was overcome by lethargy. Manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee weighed in, too. In expressing his concern, Manuel also said he still had to keep sending Halladay out there because the pitcher insisted he was healthy.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - It was an interesting day for the Phillies' bullpen competition. Two guys who were once in it are out. Jake Diekman and Justin De Fratus were optioned to minor-league camp Sunday before the Phillies' 5-3 exhibition win over the Baltimore Orioles. Jeremy Horst, a lefty with an inside track to one of the three vacant spots because of the way he pitched last season, threw two scoreless innings and allowed just one hit, but he did not get a glowing review from pitching coach Rich Dubee.