Early on, Lannan says he's 'throwing everything'

FORT MYERS, Fla. - As Twins pitcher Vance Worley finished up a side session and prepared for a post-workout run, his replacement in the Phillies rotation checked into Hammond Stadium after a 2 hour-plus bus ride from Clearwater.

John Lannan is hoping he is through with bus rides when the calendar flips from March to April.

Ready to put a forgetful 2012 season in the past, Lannan threw his first two innings in a Phillies uniform in Wednesday's 12-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins. Lannan allowed one run on four hits in two innings.

Rather than eventually mixing in all of his pitches as the spring season continues, Lannan had his entire arsenal intact in Game No. 1.

"I'm throwing everything - everything I can throw. I'm not throwing a knuckleball," Lannan said with a laugh. "If I'm out there, I can't not throw some of my pitches. I have to give it everything."

Despite having 134 major league starts on the back of his baseball card, including two Opening Day assignments, Lannan knows nothing is guaranteed. He was thrilled to sign a 1-year, $2.5 million contract with the Phillies 2 months ago, but he knows money doesn't determine a roster spot.

Lannan made twice as much last year - $5 million - but made 24 of his 30 starts at Syracuse, the Washington Nationals Triple A affiliate.

"I still don't think anything is guaranteed," Lannan, 28, said of currently sitting in the final spot of a rotation that includes Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Kyle Kendrick. "Going into spring last year, I knew [Washington] had signed Gio [Gonzalez], but I thought I still had a job. And then they signed Edwin [Jackson], and I knew I was on the cusp. There is still competition here. I'm not taking anything for granted. But it's definitely a better feeling."

It's not as if the Phillies don't have any other starting pitchers in camp.

Aaron Cook and Rodrigo Lopez, non-roster players, each have more career starts in the major leagues than Lannan. Tyler Cloyd was the International League's Most Valuable Pitcher last season before making six starts in the Phillies rotation at the end of the year and Jonathan Pettibone is the most major league-ready of a string of rising minor league arms in the farm system.

The lefthanded Lannan is almost a shoo-in for the job, though. He had a 3.70 ERA in 33 starts for Washington in 2011 and the Phillies scooped him up not long after he was nontendered by the Nats in December.

Even still, every time he takes the mound in the next month, he will pitch to keep his job.

"That's the way I always have been," Lannan said. "I never really assumed anything. I assumed something last year on the last day of camp. And you know what happens when you assume something, right?"

Instead of breaking camp with the rest of the Nats and heading to Wrigley Field for the season opener, Lannan's 2012 began in Syracuse. With less than 5 years of major league service time, Lannan couldn't decline a minor league assignment but did request for a trade.

The trade never came and Lannan had to wait until Operation Shutdown - when the Nationals ended Stephen Strasburg's season in September - before getting his rotation spot back. Lannan, who had been with the team longer than anyone but Ryan Zimmerman, was left off Washington's postseason roster.

Needless to say, Lannan was thankful for a fresh start.

The New York native has an offseason home in Tampa, so he would come into Clearwater twice a week to keep his arm in shape. In training on Phillies ground, Lannan was able to establish a relationship with pitching coach Rich Dubee well before camp began.

"The first bullpen [session] he was quiet, so that kind of screwed with me a little bit," Lannan said with a smile. "He probably didn't want to say too much. Now he's in the role of telling me what he thinks, and it's great."

Instead of being the young kid in a mostly unproven rotation, as he was for the majority of his time in Washington, Lannan is the youngest member of the Phillies' starting five. He's eager to watch, learn and improve.

"Their mental approach . . . see how they come into the game, how they prepare, what they think of certain hitters," Lannan said of what he could pick up from fellow lefties Lee and Hamels. "As far as pitching, those are a couple of the best pitchers in the game, so I'll definitely be talking to them."

Lannan said he hasn't had many of those conversations yet. But it's only February; a full month of spring-training games remain.

For now, Lannan is concentrating on preparing himself for a full season in the big leagues, and grateful a team like the Phillies gave him that chance.

"The one thing that jumped out in particular to me is that everyone in here wants to win a World Series," Lannan said of his new surroundings. "And that's not to say the Nationals didn't want to win. But I just didn't think they knew what extent they could take it. Here, they know exactly what they want, and that's to win a World Series. And that's apparent in the way guys work and take care of their jobs individually. You can see when they come on the field as a team."