KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The Houston Astros teed off on a couple of Phillies pitchers Thursday, but Cliff Lee was not one of them.
Lee looked sharp — and most important, healthy — in his spring debut against the Houston Astros. The left-hander went two innings, as is the custom for a starter in his first spring start, and allowed a couple of singles, one of which could easily have been scored an error. Lee did not strike out or walk a batter while throwing 22 pitches, 16 for strikes.
“I got through it with two zeroes, so that’s a good thing,” he said.
The same could not be said for Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez and Phillippe Aumont. Gonzalez allowed four hits, including a double and a home run, in two innings of work. Aumont gave up a pair of well-struck homers on consecutive pitches in the fifth inning as the Astros pulled away in a 6-3 win.
Gonzalez and Aumont are both long shots to make the opening day roster. Gonzalez is expected to be part of the Triple A rotation while Aumont could end up with another organization. He is out of minor-league options and must clear waivers to be assigned to Triple A.
Lee, obviously, is a lock to be with the Phillies in April. How much longer he stays after that remains to be seen. Like every other veteran on the rebuilding Phillies’ roster, he is available for a trade and could attract a taker as soon as he proves he’s completely healthy. He suffered an elbow strain last season and made just 13 starts.
Lee said he has felt good in all his bullpen sessions this spring, and he echoed that after Thursday’s start, saying his elbow felt “normal.” Still, the left-hander won’t know whether he has completely cleared the health hurdle until he gets into the regular season.
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“As a starting pitcher, you've got to go out there and throw a hundred and some odd pitches and get deep into games to do your job effectively,’’ Lee said. “Personally, until I do that, I don't think that I've proven that I can do that yet. Not that I'm trying to prove anything to anyone, but I mean, I don't think anyone is going to know that I can do that until I go out there and show it.”
Lee is confident he will get to where he needs to be to be effective — and completely prove his health.
“I don't have any uncertainty,” he said. “I definitely have confidence and expect to go out there and be successful, and I'm doing everything I can to prevent something like that from happening again. That's really all I can do. There's no worry or uncertainty or anything like that. I'm just going to go out there and be confident and expect to have success and not really even think about it, to be honest with you.”
Lee had not pitched in a game situation since July 31, when he walked off the mound with pain in his elbow.
“It has been a while since I've faced live hitters so it was good to get that under my belt and behind me,” he said. “Now it's just build on that and try to get to where I can throw a hundred and some pitches and be a starting pitcher.”
Typically, Lee threw a lot of fastballs. His velocity was 87-88 mph, down from where it usually is, but it often takes time to build arm strength in camp.
“Obviously, I'd like to throw a little harder than that, but that's not that far off from normal,” he said. “I'd like to throw 90, 91, whatever every time. But it's early. It's something to build on. First game, but I'm definitely glad it's behind me and I'm still feeling good, so it's definitely a positive.”
Manager Ryne Sandberg was pleased with what he saw of Lee.
“In some regards, [the elbow] might have been on his mind a little, but he said he felt good so that’s a good sign,” Sandberg said. “We’ll wait and see how he feels in the morning and keep moving him along.”
Aumont gave up a pair of thundering home runs to Robbie Grossman and Marwin Gonzalez in the sixth inning. Aumont throws a 95-mph fastball, but it can get turned around quickly when he’s behind the count and hitters know it’s coming.
“Hittable pitches get squared up,” Sandberg said. “He’s got some work to do. When you pitch behind in the count, hitters hit fastballs.”
Sandberg thought Gonzalez’s stuff looked good despite the right-hander getting hit hard.
“It was the best stuff I’ve seen out of him,” Sandberg said. “He looks healthy.”
The focus on the pitching continues Friday when Cole Hamels makes his spring debut against the Yankees in Clearwater.