Phillies' Cliff Lee: 'I'm perfectly fine'

CLEARWATER, Fla. - As the pack of reporters departed the area around Cliff Lee's locker early Monday morning, the pitcher plopped into his seat and let out a sigh. Standing nearby, Roy Halladay cracked a smile and shook his head.

The territory that comes with the hype and promise of a great rotation will require moments like this: Lee, steadfastly denying a mild strain of a muscle on his left side will have any effect on his preparation for the 2011 season.

"I'm perfectly fine and right with everyone else," Lee said. "It's not really a major issue."

So you don't feel anything now?

"No," Lee said.

Are you on schedule to start the season normally?

"We still have plenty of time, and I feel fine," Lee said. "So it's a nonissue."

Lee, 32, represents $120 million of what could be one of the greatest starting rotations ever and the main reason why the Phillies have such great hope headed into this season. As players, coaches and front-office officials discuss the optimism for 2011, the requisite caveat is normally some form of "so long as we stay healthy."

So any blip on the radar screen will be a cause for concern, especially involving the four pitchers.

Lee, possibly prescient of this very fact before spring training began, decided to call the Phillies athletic trainers after experiencing discomfort for two consecutive days while throwing at home in Arkansas this winter.

"He did the right thing calling us," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said.

Lee traveled to Philadelphia in the first week of February - he was scheduled to come regardless for an appearance at the auto show - and the Phillies administered an MRI exam on his left arm. It revealed a mild strain of his latissimus dorsi muscle, located under his armpit.

The lefthander was examined by Michael Ciccotti, the team's physician and then restricted him from throwing for eight days. Lee was cleared to throw before arriving in Clearwater for spring training. But his first bullpen session was noticeably shorter than the other pitchers and his second session was limited as well.

Now, a week into camp, Lee estimates he is five or 10 pitches behind the other pitchers. That, he says, is no big deal.

"Obviously I would have liked to throw the time I was shut down," Lee said. "It was right before spring training, so, yeah, it changed my preparation a little bit. But it's so early that it's not going to matter. I'm going to catch up and be just fine."

Pitching coach Rich Dubee took it a step further.

"He's right on pace with the other guys," Dubee said. "It's not even an issue."

Lee has a history of abdominal strains - he missed time in 2007 and the beginning of 2010 with the injury. But this muscle strain is not related to those he has had in the past, Lee said. He also missed a few starts in 2010 with back problems.

"It was different than anything I've ever felt," Lee said. "It was basically in my lat, under my armpit. I felt it one day, felt it a little bit the next day, and called the trainers."

Amaro said, if anything, the Phillies have been extra cautious with Lee this spring. He will throw live batting practice Tuesday, as scheduled, and make his first Grapefruit League start next Tuesday.

"It behooves us to watch him," Amaro said. "But he's absolutely fine."