Madson, who missed the last 2 months of last season with a shoulder strain, said the soreness is gone, but wants to be careful during the early part of the season so he doesn't suffer another season-ending injury.

That means he doesn't want to throw 58 pitches combined on back-to-back days, which he did on April 3 and 4.

"I don't know where they are at on it, but I know where I'm at, and I'm going to protect myself," Madson said. "I'm not going to be able to go two innings, and then come back and go two innings [the next day] right now because I don't want to be away from this team like I was last year."

Manuel bristled when informed of that.

"It's kind of tough when players set down how much they're going to play and how much they are going to pitch," Manuel said. "That kind of doesn't sound right to me for some reason."

Here's the backstory: On April 3, Madson pitched 1 1/3 innings against the Nationals, throwing 23 pitches in an 8-7 win. The following night, he threw 35 pitches in two innings against the Reds.

The next day, he said, he felt soreness in the shoulder, which led him to request the time off. Madson said he was nervous about doing so, because the last time he did - last July, 2 weeks before he was shut down for the season - he was met with some resistance.

"I caught a lot of hell for it," Madson said. "I was surprised, because I had never said anything before. So going in there [and asking for time off] again was not what I wanted to do. But I knew if I would have kept throwing through it like I did last year, it would have progressively gotten worse."

Nearly a week later, Madson, who threw 18 pitches in an inning in last night's game, said that with the soreness gone, he wants to be more careful.

Manuel said he understands - to a point.

A lot of factors are in play: The Phillies have a finite amount of pitchers and were stretched thin in the bullpen throughout the first week of the season. They also employ a training staff whose job it is to help determine who is hurt and who is available.

Madson, on the other hand, is the only one who can feel what his body says. And he must balance his desire to be on the field with the desire to protect the right arm that earns him a paycheck.

"It's my livelihood," Madson said. "I'm not going to just flush it down the toilet."

Said Manuel: "First of all, we're not here to hurt people. And we're not here to put you in the game or anything if you are hurt and things like that. But when we've got 12 pitchers on our staff, somebody's got to goddamn pitch. The game goes nine innings, we've got to have someone to pitch. I guess I can say that."

Both Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee said they understood Madson's concerns.

"He's coming off an injury last year, and he's now having a setback this year," Dubee said. "But we're aware of it, too. We're not going to send him to the wolves, believe me."

Rollins optimistic

"It feels better, in some ways," said Rollins, who has a sprained left ankle. "In other ways . . . "

Those other ways made Manuel's decision for him. Rollins was OK accelerating, but any significant lateral force caused him considerable pain.

Rollins, who had his 230-consecutives games streak snapped Wednesday, was asked whether he might miss the three games this weekend against the visiting Cubs and return when the Phillies resume playing Tuesday against the visiting Houston Astros.

"Hopefully, I'm back tomorrow," he replied. "But I'm a born optimist."

He actually got back last night - briefly - striking out as a ninth-inning pinch-hitter.

Kline signed

The Phillies signed the veteran lefthander to a minor league deal. Kline, who posted a 4.70 ERA in 68 games last year with the Giants and was released at the end of spring training, will report to Class A Clearwater for about a week, then begin pitching at Triple A Lehigh Valley.

Victorino staying put

Victorino, who usually bats second, has led off the past two games in place of Rollins.

The only other Phillie with significant experience leading off is reserve So Taguchi, who has a career .293 batting average in 157 at-bats as a leadoff hitter.

Phillers

For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese.