Nola says he's almost ready for the real season

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Three of the four Blue Jays whom Aaron Nola walked in a 7-5 loss Friday scored. That upset the strike-happy Phillies righthander. But this is the Grapefruit League, and Nola missed the final two months of last season with an elbow injury, so the pitcher found comfort in the larger picture.

"I feel good," Nola said. "I feel like I'm almost where I need to be going into the season. A few more outings, and I think I'll be good to go for the season. Keep on staying healthy. That's my main focus right now."

That is everyone's focus in an elongated Phillies camp. Nola arrived here as the most glaring unknown; he will enter the season as such no matter how good or bad his final spring statistics look.

His fastball showed some life against Toronto. He missed on a few pitches, and two of the four runs charged to him were surrendered by Ben Lively. Nola threw 75 pitches, 46 of them strikes, and he was disappointed to have not finished the fifth inning that devolved into a disaster with Lively on the mound.

Nola had walked one batter in his first 71/3 innings this spring.

"I'm really happy about Nola. It looked comfortable coming out of his hand," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "He threw a lot of change-ups, which he's been working on since last year, and it really looked good. It was an effective pitch."

Pat Venditte used both arms to strike out the three batters he faced in his Phillies debut as the ambidextrous pitcher thrust himself into the competition for one of the final two spots in the bullpen.

Venditte pitched righthanded to strike out righthanded batter Jon Berti. He then pitched lefthanded to strike out lefthanded hitter Rowdy Tellez and switched back to his right hand to whiff righthanded hitter Juan Graterol.

"It's really special. It's really fun to watch," Mackanin said. "I guess he's going to go in and ice both of his arms now."

Venditte is not on the 40-man roster and is likely headed to triple-A Lehigh Valley. The switch-pitcher, Mackanin said, "is in the mix."

"When you get a new team, you definitely want to start on the right foot," Venditte said. "Go out there and fill up the strike zone. I think I was able to do that today. I'm very pleased with my first showing."

In addition to Jorge Alfaro, J.P. Crawford, and Nick Williams, the Phillies sent righthanders Lively and Pedro Beato, infielder Taylor Featherston and outfielder Cameron Perkins to minor-league camp. There are 44 players remaining in major-league camp. . . . Howie Kendrick cracked his first homer of the spring. . . . The Phillies wore green jerseys, hats, and socks for St. Patrick's Day. A crowd of 11,173 packed into Spectrum Field, the third-largest crowd in stadium history.