Rich Dubee

TAMPA, Fla. - Phillippe Aumont had one more appearance with the Phillies before leaving to join Canada in the World Baseball Classic. Facing mostly minor-league Yankees, he showed off a fastball Friday that hovered at 95 m.p.h. "I've been throwing a lot of strikes," Aumont said. "Now I just have to keep it going. If you remember a few years ago, I got rocked by Florida State. " He laughed. Yes, Aumont is more mature mentally and physically than three springs ago when college kids bashed him. This winter, he threw bullpen sessions for three weeks before camp started, knowing he would need to be ready sooner for Canada.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Mike Adams took the mound in a Phillies uniform for the first time Thursday, and afterward, was asked to compare how he felt physically to the same time last spring. Adams didn't have a good answer because there wasn't one. There wasn't any comparison. After rising through the San Diego Padres' bullpen to become one of the game's best setup men, Adams was entering his first full season with the Texas Rangers last spring when his shoulder began bothering him. And then he felt numbness in his pitching hand, struggling to grip the ball.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The booming ball off the bat of Yankees cleanup hitter Mark Teixeira went foul. So then he took another thundering cut and ripped another pitch to rightfield. The double brought Ichiro Suzuki in from second as the Yankees quickly scored off Kyle Kendrick to take a first-inning lead at Bright House Field. A couple of years ago, a few hard-hit balls would have been enough to have people rolling their eyes at another Kendrick start. It might have been enough to derail Kendrick, too. But the former young, struggling righthander, once the butt of jokes and clubhouse pranks, is suddenly a confident, 28-year-old veteran with a solid place in the Phillies' rotation.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - One of the upshots of Kyle Kendrick's being guaranteed a rotation spot this winter is the freedom of a spring without worries. The results of his Grapefruit League appearances are meaningless. He will be the fourth starter come April. Kendrick's spring debut Tuesday against the New York Yankees was anticlimactic. The righthander allowed one run on three hits with a strikeout in a 4-3 Phillies win. His goal early in spring training is to develop a feel for his two most important pitches: the sinker and change-up.

LAKELAND, Fla. - Jake Diekman is right in the middle of the competition. Three spots are open in the Phillies' bullpen, and the lefthander with the funky sidearm delivery wants one of them, but he respects the talent level of his friendly adversaries. "There are 13 pitchers who have crazy big talent," Diekman said. "It's going to be a fun spring training just to see everybody throw because there is so much talent. " Jonathan Papelbon will be the closer. Mike Adams and Antonio Bastardo will handle the primary setup roles, and veteran Chad Durbin will be among the middle relievers.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Pitching coach Rich Dubee is not ready to announce the Phillies' opening-day starter in Atlanta. But reading between the lines, it's clear that the decision is down to Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee. That means someone other than Roy Halladay will be the opening-day starter for the Phillies for the first time since the team acquired the two-time Cy Young Award winner from Toronto before the 2010 season. "I think it's how we line up best," Dubee said. "Realistically, we could pitch anybody the first day as far as Doc, Cole, and Cliff.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The biweekly bullpen sessions started in late January. Every Tuesday and Friday, Rich Dubee made the 60-mile drive from his home in Sarasota to watch Roy Halladay and Kyle Kendrick throw from mounds outside Bright House Field. The Phillies pitching coach's interest in Halladay, his fallen ace, was obvious. Kendrick did his work, and no one - even Dubee - needed to tell him the words he had waited five years to hear. "I guess it was just known," Kendrick said.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - A starting pitcher can only control his fate every fifth day of a baseball season. And even on that day, the one stat that he's often defined by - the win - is often out of his control, too. Cliff Lee was in control on Oct. 2, 2011. The Phillies gave Lee a 4-0 lead after two innings of Game 2 of the National League Division Series at Citizens Bank Park. Lee and the Phillies lost that game to St. Louis, 5-4. Flash forward 6 months. After throwing 89 pitches in the first nine innings at AT&T Park, Lee returned to the mound for the 10th inning and threw another zero onto the scoreboard.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Opening Day trivia: When was the last time Roy Halladay was on a team and didn't make the first start of the season? And who was his team's Opening Day starter that year? If you guessed "2002" and "Chris Carpenter," please pick up your Lifetime Toronto Blue Jays Fan card at the ticket window in Dunedin. As another Opening Day draws closer, the possibility that Halladay will sit out the first game of the season for the first time in a decade might be increasing.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Whenever a Phillies starter succumbed to injury in recent years, the solution was uncomplicated. Kyle Kendrick was plucked from the bullpen, inserted into the rotation, and the Phillies cherished that familiarity. Now Kendrick is the fourth starter and such a luxury does not exist. The Phillies will need a sixth, probably seventh, and maybe even eighth starter at some point during 2013. In the last 30 years, only the 2003 Seattle Mariners lasted an entire season using five starters.