Lee, Kendrick shine against Blue Jays

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DUNEDIN, Fla.Charlie Manuel usually leaves the pitching analysisor at least most of itto pitching coach Rich Dubee.

But after watching seven of his pitchers shut out the Toronto Blue Jays, 7-0, on Tuesday, he offered some insights and even took a little credit.

Look at the scoreboard, Manuel said before boarding a bus for the short ride back to Clearwater. We didnt give up anything today. Good managing.

When a team pitches like that, its more like easy managing.

Cliff Lee and Kyle Kendrick both looked good in their first outings of the spring. Both pitched two scoreless innings. Lee allowed two hits, a walk and struck out one. Kendrick allowed one hit and struck out two.

Lee and Kendrick are both interesting guys in this camp.

Lee is always interesting because hes one of the best pitchers in the game, a former American League Cy Young winner, and a huge fan favorite in Philadelphia.

Kendrick is interesting because Phillies officials believe he has improved to the point where he could be effective in the starting rotation. Of course, there is no room at the inn with Lee, Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Vance Worley and Joe Blanton all holding down spots, so Kendrick is likely headed for a bullpen role.

But

All that could change if Blanton is traded later in camp. The righthander looked strong in two scoreless innings in his spring debut on Monday and 24 hours later rival scouts were still buzzing about how well he threw the ball. If Blanton continues to pitch effectively and proves his health, he could interest a team looking for a veteran arm later this spring. The Phils would probably consider moving Blantons 8.5 million salaryor at least part of itas a way to gain some financial flexibility later that could come in handy around the trade deadline. Then again, the Phils could opt to keep Blanton and continue to use Kendrick in a valuable swingman role.

This stuff has a way of playing itself out.

Lees objective in his first start of the spring was to locate pitches and get out of there healthy. He succeeded in part of that.

I would have like to have located better, but I felt good and that was definitely as positive, he said.

Lee finished third in NL Cy Young voting while going 17-8 with a 2.40 ERA last season. His season included two of the best months in baseball history. He went 5-0 in June and allowed one run in 42 innings. He went 5-0 in August and allowed two runs in 39 23 innings.

You cant get much better than that, but Lee will try in 2012.

Youre never content, he said. Until you can go through and entire season and not give up a run, theres always room for improvement.

Worley makes his first spring start Wednesday against Houston in Clearwater.

E-mail Jim Salisbury at jsalisbury@comcastsportsnet.com

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