Halladay's rehab start a good first step

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The last time Roy Halladay walked off the mound in Philadelphia, it was after watching light-hitting Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria celebrate a grand slam.

That was 3 months and a shoulder surgery ago. Yesterday, the two-time Cy Young Award winner took another step forward in his effort to return to the Phillies before the season is over and put his struggles of 2012 and '13 behind him.

In a minor league rehabilitation start with the Gulf Coast League Phillies, Halladay pitched six complete innings, throwing 87 pitches, 51 for strikes. He allowed three runs on six hits, including a solo home run, struck out four and walked three.

After the game, Halladay, owner of the most expensive right arm in Phillies history, said he feels as though he's improving.

"From the simulated game [Saturday] to today, I felt like my location was better," said the 36-year-old who can become a free agent after the season. "I didn't feel like I got as tired. I still feel like there's more in there."

So much more, in fact, that Halladay didn't want to come out in the sixth inning against the Gulf Coast League Pirates.

After pitching five quiet innings, Halladay ran into trouble and was quickly approaching his scheduled 75 to 80 pitches. He retired the first hitter of the sixth inning on a bunt attempt but then allowed a home run, walk, single and another walk.

That prompted pitching coach Steve Schrenk to pay Halladay a mound visit and tell him he was giving the reliever in the bullpen time to warm up.

"I told him I was finishing the inning," Halladay said. "So we had a little bit of a - not a disagreement - but I was going to finish the inning."

Halladay struck out the next two Pirates to end the threat.

"He was trying to take me out when the game started getting fun," Halladay said. "I wanted to get the [pitch count] up a little bit, get a chance to work out of the stretch and get a chance to work on pitching out of jams. Up until that point, there really wasn't a whole lot of excitement."

Though Halladay threw more pitches than expected, he said he was proceeding cautiously.

Halladay said he talked to Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and Schrenk before the start: "I told those guys, 'Hey, if I feel like at any point I'm sacrificing anything or I feel like I'm going to hurt myself or . . . my mechanics are changing, I'll let you know.' Other than that, Ruben told me to go as far as I wanted to go."

In a statement, Amaro said: "I spoke with Roy today, and with people who were there to evaluate him, and they feel that he continues to make progress. He is not as crisp as he wants to be yet. It is likely that he will have at least one more rehab start. He is scheduled to throw a bullpen in Philadelphia on Saturday and we'll know where he will pitch on Tuesday once he completes that session."

While Halladay didn't generate many swings-and-misses, the Pirates rarely hit him hard, grounding out 10 times and flying out once. His velocity was consistent throughout the game, sitting in the mid-80s and peaking at 86 mph - results consistent with a bullpen session Monday. But Halladay's focus yesterday was on mechanics and location, not velocity.

Halladay said well over 80 to 85 percent of his pitches were sinkers and cutters.

"There were times when I'd get in a groove and then miss two or three," he said. "For the most part, they were on the halves of the plate that I wanted them to, and we were able to work both sides of the plate more so than in the [simulated] game."

The next step in his recovery is to see how he feels after a bullpen session. If he bounces back well, he could start another rehab game in 5 days, though there is no official timetable. One possibility is Tuesday, when the Class A Clearwater Threshers play at home.

Earlier in the week, Amaro said that, barring setbacks, he could see Halladay returning to the majors after two rehab starts. That would put him in line to join the Phillies during their Aug. 23-25 home series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"I'm not going to get too far ahead of myself, but I feel good," Halladay said. "I feel like each time has gotten better and better. As long as I continue in that direction, I'm fine with that."

Ruben Amaro also spoke about injured lefthander John Lannan: "John saw a doctor today at the Rothman Institute. It appears that he has similar symptoms to those he experienced earlier this season with tendinitis of the patellar tendon. We will conduct a repeat MRI tomorrow and will know more about his injury once the MRI is performed. It seems likely that he is headed back to the disabled list. If that is indeed the case, we will make a corresponding roster move tomorrow."