For those of you who are at work and want to follow along, and maybe talk some smack, head over to Ed Barkowitz's live blog. He'll keep you updated. Of course, be sure to keep dialed into High Cheese for any big news or notes that might pop up.

http://blogs.phillynews.com/dailynews/now/

Ran into Brad Lidge in the clubhouse today. The Phillies threw the injured closer up to Philadelphia for the game. He'll return to Clearwater in time to pitch in a minor game tomorrow.

"When they told me I went on the DL,  I was a little disappointed, but i was hoping there was still a way I could get up here," Lidge said. "There's no where else in the world I'd rather be right now."

Lidge said his fastball is registering around 92 mph on the radar gun. He has two more outings scheduled in Florida. By the time he comes off the disabled list Saturday, he's hoping to add a couple more miles to that speed.

Lidge said he expects to fly to Cincinnati Friday and be ready to pitch Saturday.

"I'm happier now than I was a week ago," said Lidge, who had arthroscopic knee surgery Feb. 25. "I know my last couple clicks aren't going to come until i get in a major league game, but it's important for me that I know my arm strength is getting back to where it needs to be."

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Philly mayor Michael Nutter will throw out the first pitch.

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It's 2:19 p.m. and the tarp is off the field. The windows in the press box have been removed - it's still hovering around 47-50 degrees, but it isn't terrible. There doesn't appear to be any perciptiation, and the skyline is a little more visible than it was a couple of hours ago. As long as the rain holds off, it shouldn't be too bad of a day for baseball, all things considered.

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Jayson Werth will start in right field. That surprises me. I was convinced yesterday that manager Charlie Manuel was leaning toward starting Geoff Jenkins, who has more experience than Werth and has been hitting a lot better lately. But Manuel seems set on sending Werth out against left-handers (Nationals' southpaw Matt Chico is scheduled to start today), against whom he hit .375 last season.

Werth struggled in spring training, but he struggled last year and managed to perform well for most of the regular season.

It's 11:30 a.m. on Opening Day. I'll tell you what: this feels a lot like Christmas morning. I went to bed last night with an overwhelming sense of anticipation. That might sound a tad over the top. But consider: for the past 42 days we've been writing about the fifth starter and Brad Lidge's knee and Kris Benson's arm and the philosophy of pinch-hitting and anything and everything except real, live, actual, meaningful baseball games.

Today, that changes.

The weather here is, in a word, awful. The skies are so overcast the Philadelphia skyline is barely visible in the distance, just a large silhouette masked by clouds. It's about 45degrees. It is spritzing out. The weather forecast calls for a high of 53 degrees.

Here's the line-up:

1. SS Jimmy Rollins

2. CF Shane Victorino

3. 2B Chase Utley

4. 1B Ryan Howard

5. LF Pat Burrell

6. 3B Pedro Feliz

7. RF Jayson Werth

8. C Carlos Ruiz

9. RHP Brett Myers.

Stay tuned for more.

Be sure to pick up a copy of the paper today for our preview issue.

The reports on Brad Lidge continue to come back positive. The closer threw a bullpen session today, and is expected to be ready to pitch Saturday, when he is eligible to come off the disabled list.

"We think he should be ready," general manager Pat Gillick said.

If Lidge pitches in Cincinnati Sunday, he'll be a couple days shy of being six weeks post-op. The right-hander had arthroscopic knee surgery Feb. 25. The Phillies originally put a three-to-six week timetable on his return. Lidge had said he thought he'd be ready to pitch Opening Day, but the Phillies chose to be cautious.

When Lidge comes back, it obviously means that someone else will have to go. That someone else could be infielder Wes Helms. There is a chance the Phillies trade Helms to one of a couple of teams who are looking for infield help. The Phillies aren't expecting to get a major leaguer in return for Helms, so that would open up a roster spot.

Gillick said he wasn't sure whether the Phillies would keep 11 or 12 pitchers on the roster throughout the season.

"That's not etched in stone," Gillick said. "We might fluctuate between 11 and 12. that just depends on where we are at that particular moment."

Late blog update today. Flew into Philly this morning. The weather, I must say, is beautiful. Gray, overcast, 40 degrees. . .just like I remember it.

In today's paper, we took a look what we learned about the Phillies this spring.

Read it here, and feel free to chip in your $0.02.

Word from the ballpark today is J.D. Durbin has been sent down to Triple A Lehigh Valley and replaced by Tim Lahey, a 6-foot-5 right hander who was last in the Twins farm system. He spent spring training with the Cubs.

Blogging to you live from a cramped press box at Joker-Merchant Stadium in Lakeland, where the Phillies are getting set to start their final Grapefruit League game of the spring. In about five hours, the Phillies and their coaches will hop on a charter jet at a nearby municipal airport and head up to Philadelphia, where they'll face Toronto in an exhibition at Citizens Bank Park tomorrow night.

First, some news:

LHP Travis Blackley has cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. There was a chance Blackley, a rule 5 selection from San Francisco, could have returned to the Giants. But it appears he'll remain a Phillie this season, sharpening up in Triple-A in case the team needs another lefty arm during the season.

Second, what's in the paper:

Kris Benson has a new deal from the Phillies. The way its structured, its obvious that both sides A) Still expect Benson to help the team and B) Expect him to help the team sometime during the month of May.

If Benson pitches more than 10 minor league innings before May 15, he's allowed to opt out of his contract on May 15. If he doesn't pitch more than 10 minor league innings, he can opt out on June 1, assuming he hasn't been promoted to the big league roster by that point in time.

Now, what's on tap for today:

RHP Adam Eaton will make his final start of the spring today against the Tigers. Assuming everything goes well, he'll be the starter in the fifth game of the season against the Reds.

Apologize for slacking here on High Cheese today. Things are winding down here in Clearwater and there are a bunch of loose ends to tie up. Figured I'd fill ya'll (that's what they say down here in Florida) in on one of the more intriguing performances of the spring. Andrew Carpenter, a 22-year-old prospect who went 17-6 at high-A Clearwater last season, pitched four scoreless innings against a Yankees lineup stocked with regulars. He struck out six, and was uber impressive in working his way out of a self-made jam in the ninth inning, loading the bases with no out yet escaping without allowing a run.

Carpenter opened up a lot of eyes today. He isn't regarded as one of the organization's top prospects, at least not by Baseball America. He wasn't invited to big league spring training. But pitching coach Rich Dubee and manager Charlie Manuel loooooved what they saw today out of the kid. He doesn't have the fastest fastball, but he's got five pitches, including a trickly little split fingered fastball that he uses as his out pitch.

Manuel's an old school guy, and he pretty much said, "I don't care who you are or what level you are at, if you got 17-6, you are doing something right." So they've heard about this kid. But today was the first time either Dubee or Manuel saw him in person. Afterward, I asked Dubee if Carpenter could help the team this season, possibly in the bullpen.

"He's not far down the road," Dubee said.

Carpenter's a starter, and afterward said he hopes to become "the next Kyle Kendrick." In other words, a guy that wasn't even invited to spring training but still helped the team. He could do that in the rotation. Or he could do that in the bullpen, a la Joba Chamberlain and Jonathan Papelbon back when they arrived on the scene.

It was only one appearance, but Carpenter showed the coaching staff a ton. If he plays as well in the first half of the minor league season as he did last year, I wouldn't be surprised to see him get a shot in the second half if the Phillies are pressed for arms.

First, kudos to Mr. Paul Hagen, my esteemed colleague and personal hero who took care of the daily duties today so that I could finish up some season preview stories.

That said, here's what's shaking:

Lefty reliever Travis Blackley cleaned out his locker today, but nobody could figure out why. The Phillies weren't saying anything, so rumor and innuendo was left to fill the minds of those who saw the empty stall. Turns out, the deal isn't all that scandalous: he's a rule 5 selection, which means the team can't simply send him to the minors. First, they must put him on waivers. If he clears waivers, then the Giants have a chance to claim him, because they were his original team.

But here's the complicated part:

Blackley has the choice of whether he wants to go to the minors or become a free agent. If he chooses to become a free agent, that's it: he's a free agent. If he chooses to accept his assignment to the minors, the Giants then have the choice to take him back (they'd have to pay the phillies $25,000 to do so). If the Giants don't take him back, he'd then go into the Phillies minor league system.

We'll likely find out more tomorrow.

Blackley was in competition for both the fifth spot in the rotation and a spot in the bullpen.