Phillies Notes: Eager Mathieson gets call

NEW YORK - For all the times (and there were many) Scott Mathieson thought about turning around and just ending his baseball career, consumed with rehab after rehab, he kept going to the Phillies' spring training complex in Clearwater, Fla. If he didn't, he'd always wonder, "What if?"

What if he hadn't put himself in a spot like Thursday morning, lying in bed in Allentown when he got a phone call from his triple-A manager, Dave Huppert, with the news Mathieson was being recalled by the Phillies?

"It makes it all worth it," Mathieson said.

Mathieson, 26, made his return to the majors Thursday after three surgeries (including two Tommy Johns) since 2006. He replaced lefthander Antonio Bastardo, who went to the disabled list with ulnar nerve inflammation in his left elbow.

"You have to be cautious in that area," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said of Bastardo's injury, which he suffered in Tuesday's game.

It creates an opportunity for Mathieson, who had been throwing well at Lehigh Valley. But the Phillies haven't had a spot for the hard-throwing righthander.

Manager Charlie Manuel said Mathieson would initially be used in the sixth and seventh innings when needed. He could also throw multiple innings.

When Mathieson enters a game for the Phillies, it is believed he will become just the 15th pitcher to ever appear in a major-league game following two Tommy John surgeries.

At triple A, Mathieson was 2-2 with a 2.43 ERA and 12 saves in 25 games. Mathieson said his fastball has been in the mid- to high 90s, and he has topped out at 99 m.p.h.

When Mathieson was among the first cuts in spring training, Phillies brass said he needed work on his secondary pitches. Mathieson said he was throwing his slider for strikes as often as his fastball in triple A. He also has used a change-up more.

"I feel good," Mathieson said. "I'm confident in throwing everything."

Mathieson was once a heralded prospect in the Phillies' system and made his major-league debut as a 22-year-old in 2006. He started eight games and struggled, going 1-4 with a 7.47 ERA before he injured his elbow during the first inning of a start against Atlanta on Sept. 2, 2006. Less than a month later, he had Tommy John surgery for the first time. In the procedure, a ligament in the elbow is replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body.

Mathieson pitched eight innings in the minors in 2007 before requiring ulnar-nerve transposition surgery in August. And he could not get back on the mound before realizing he needed a second Tommy John operation, in May 2008.

Now he's back in the majors.

"I knew if I kept pitching well," Mathieson said, "eventually it would happen."

Shortstop Jimmy Rollins (strained right calf) had the night off on his rehab at single-A Clearwater. He is scheduled to play nine innings Friday and will return to Philadelphia this weekend.

Manuel said it was possible Rollins could be activated for Sunday's finale against Minnesota, but a more likely scenario is that Rollins' first game will come Tuesday against Cleveland. The Phillies are off Monday.

"I hear he's doing pretty good," Manuel said.

When he went on the disabled list, Rollins suggested that when he came back, he would not play every day immediately. Manuel said the plan for Rollins was still to be decided.

"We'll wait until he gets here," Manuel said.

Catcher Carlos Ruiz returned to the lineup after missing Wednesday's game with a sore left ankle. . . . With another lefthander on the mound, Manuel batted Chase Utley second for the second time in three games. Manuel said he wanted to break up Utley and Ryan Howard, both lefthanded. Will he continue to do that against lefty starters? "I don't know," Manuel said. "Depends on how our guys hit." . . . A day after Utley set up a voodoo-like display with bats, fruit, and Red Bull in the clubhouse, it was replaced by a Darth Maul bobblehead and a shot glass of rum - an obvious salute to the movie Major League. Apparently voodoo icon Jobu was unavailable for service. "Whatever it takes," Manuel said.