Spring Training

CLEARWATER, Fla. - One of the more intriguing players to land in the Phillies organization out of last year's draft is an outfielder-turned-second-baseman who pitched with both hands in high school and currently rides to practice on a beach cruiser he purchased from Target. "It's actually my second bike," Andrew Pullin said as he flipped down his kickstand and took a seat in the shade on a hellaciously muggy Florida afternoon. "The first one was stolen. " Pullin is the kind of player who makes personnel men dream.

The Washington Nationals traded outfielder Nyjer Morgan to the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday for minor league infielder Cutter Dykstra and cash. Morgan became expendable once it became clear that Rick Ankiel and Jerry Hairston Jr. would platoon in centerfield. Ankiel will start for Washington on Opening Day. "It wasn't really what he didn't show as what Ankiel did show," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. "Ankiel showed us he can go get the ball in the outfield. His arm is really a weapon.

ALLENTOWN - Sal Rende isn't the first person to make a comparison between Cody Asche and Chase Utley. He's just the most qualified person to ever compare the two because he has been around both for an extended amount of time. When Utley started his final of three seasons at triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Rende was a coach at the Phillies' former minor-league location in Northeast Pennsylvania. Rende spent spring training and the first two months of this season watching Asche, who reached the highest level of the minor leagues at a slightly younger age than Utley.

MILWAUKEE - Mike Adams grabbed a seat in front of a laptop in the visitors clubhouse and searched for answers in the form of video. Bullpen coach Rod Nichols stopped and chatted. While seated, Adams mimicked his pitching motion. Later, pitching coach Rich Dubee acted as his sounding board. The Phillies agreed to pay Adams $12 million over two seasons so he could bring stability to the eighth inning. The pitcher has a history of injuries and his latest, described as "biceps irritation," complicates the relief situation.

The Phillies invited three players to spring training Friday, including righthander Dave Bush, a Conestoga graduate. In addition to Bush, lefthander David Purcey and catcher Steven Lerud signed minor-league deals with invitations to big-league camp. Bush, 32, likely projects as the top starter in the triple-A Lehigh Valley rotation. Signed late in 2011, he made four starts for the IronPigs. He has pitched in parts of eight seasons with three major-league teams. Purcey, 29, pitched in 33 games with Toronto, Oakland, and Detroit in 2011.

Phillies outfielder Domonic Brown is eager to begin his rehab assignment, although that might not happen until later this week. Brown broke his right hand during spring training and had the hook of the hamate bone removed, a common procedure among hitters. "I'm trying to get my timing back down," Brown said Saturday in Dunedin, Fla., before an extended spring training game. "I am almost at 100 percent. " On Saturday, Brown made six plate appearances, going 1-3 with an RBI, scored a run, walked three times and struck out once.

Relief pitchers Amaury Telemaco and Geoff Geary agreed to contracts yesterday with the Phillies. The Phillies did not offer contracts to Telemaco, Geary and outfielder Jorge Padilla, infielder Lou Collier and catcher Michel Hernandez before Monday's midnight deadline. That made them free agents. The Phillies signed Telemaco to a one-year contract worth $600,000 plus bonuses. Geary will make $320,000 if he pitches in the majors. Padilla agreed to a triple-A contract and has been invited to spring training as a non-roster player.

Notorious jokester Larry Andersen, the newest member of the Phillies broadcasting team, wipes shaving-cream pie from face after taking direct hit from Curt Schilling while being interviewed by Chris Wheeler at spring training.

IT IS A MISTY Sunday morning at Campbell's Field, where the last hopes of professional baseball linger like the morning fog. Down the Delaware River, one bridge and two quick train stops away, Pedro Feliz was king. Just three seasons ago, his bat won the Phillies a World Series. It was Feliz who, in Game 5 of the 2008 World Series, delivered the game-winning, groundball single up the middle in the seventh inning off Chad Bradford. The hit scored Eric Bruntlett from third base and gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead, which, famously, the bullpen preserved.