Halladay's regimen inspiring Kendrick

CLEARWATER, Fla. - After Kyle Kendrick decided to start working out with Roy Halladay a few weeks ago, he realized Halladay was arriving at Bright House Field long before Kendrick was.

"What time do you get here?" Kendrick asked Halladay.

"Oh, 5:30 or so," Halladay said.

"OK," Kendrick replied. "How long have you been doing that?"

"About seven or eight years," Halladay said.

Kendrick was sold - so much so that he began beating Halladay to the complex as the first person to arrive, a distinction Halladay takes pride in holding. Halladay might have to set his 4:45 a.m. alarm earlier. He has found a new disciple.

Yet this is hardly new for Halladay. He's long been considered one of the harder-working pitchers after his demotion to single A in 2001 served as a wake-up call in a career that had stalled. He has mentored younger pitchers before, hoping to instill a work ethic he adopted along the way. And he has consistently been labeled one of the best - if not the best - pitchers in the majors.

But he did all of that in relative obscurity as Toronto's ace.

A week into his first spring training with the Phillies and Halladay is quickly discovering how his status has changed. But that doesn't mean he will change what elevated him to this point.

"For me, the pressure part of it is what you perceive it to be," Halladay said yesterday. "I've always had my own expectations and my own ways that I've tried to go about my job as far as preparing myself and competing and those are things I'm going to continue to do."

Except a lot more attention is headed his way these days.

For 25 minutes yesterday, Halladay addressed a large gathering of reporters for the first time this spring. Then he appeared on ESPN. And then he filmed a commercial with his wife, Brandy.

He won't admit there is extra attention. Halladay, 32, said about the only thing that has changed is on his 45-minute drive to here from his family's home in Oldsmar, Fla., he now has to turn left on Main Street in Dunedin instead of right, which would have taken him to Blue Jays camp.

But the questions are different, too. Like does he know he will be constantly compared with Seattle pitcher Cliff Lee, the ace the Phillies chose to trade when acquiring Halladay?

"I think that's what baseball is," Halladay said. "I think everybody is always comparing different players. I think that's how they decide who is the better player. That's always been the case, whether it's guys on the team being compared to you or other teams. That's part of it. It's nothing that, fortunately, I have to pay attention to."

And what is the one part he is looking forward to the most in joining a new team?

"Postseason. For me that's the ultimate," Halladay said. "Obviously there's no guarantee, but that's the driving force for me right now and the biggest reason. It was never about changing teammates, changing environments, changing cities. It was about wanting to pitch in October."

Also, any response to Mets pitcher Johan Santana's proclamation that Santana is the best pitcher in the National League East?

"No, I steer clear of that," Halladay said. "I think it was a Lou Holtz quote, 'Well done is always more important than well said.' I've always tried to take that philosophy. I try to stay out of those things as much as possible."

But fewer people noticed then. Now that Halladay is the ace of the two-time defending National League champions, there will be plenty of chatter about a work ethic he developed a long time ago.

Halladay said it all started after his demotion in 2001, when he began the season at single-A following a 2000 season in which he went 4-7 with a 10.64 ERA for Toronto. He made just 16 starts for the Blue Jays in 2001 after returning from the minors. Then, in 2002, he won 19 games.

Kendrick can relate. After winning 21 games for the Phillies from 2007-08, he spent the majority of last season in triple-A. He said he talked to Halladay about how he dealt with it in 2001. The two are not only working out together in the early mornings, but also are long-tossing and jogging partners during the organized workouts with the team.

"My work ethic has gotten a lot better, I think," Kendrick said. "Before, I just did my own thing. I didn't really have a plan. Now I have a plan, thanks to Roy."

And Kendrick, who used to arrive to camp closer to 8 a.m. in the past, has gotten so confident in his ability to outwork his new training partner that he forgot who he was going up against.

Halladay has been doing this for a long time. Everyone is noticing now.

"The other day he beat me here and I was like, 'Wow,' " Kendrick said. "And I was early, I thought."