As good as the Phillies?

CLEARWATER, Fla. ? Cliff Lee is never one to overreact. Good game. Bad game. His demeanor seldom changes. Nothing gets him riled.

So when he heard Sunday that Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson had favorably compared his top three starting pitchers to the Phillies? top three, Lee did what he usually does.

He shrugged.

And then he offered up some perspective: If a manager doesn?t believe in his guys, something is wrong.

?They should think their pitching is better than anyone else, and their position guys and their bullpen, too,? Lee said. ?If he doesn?t, what?s he thinking??

Johnson did nothing wrong. In speaking with reporters that cover his team, he pumped up his pitching staff and its potential. It?s called confidence-building. Charlie Manuel does it all the time.

In his remarks, Johnson zeroed in on the Phillies? Big 3 of Lee, Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels. He said that, ?stuff-wise,? his top three of Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmerman matched up with the Phillies? top three. Again, no foul there. Strasburg has an electric arm and Gonzalez and Zimmerman are top young talents on the rise. The difference? The Phillies? top three starters have been proven winners for years. Halladay and Lee have won Cy Young Awards. Hamels has won a World Series MVP.

While Johnson was willing to compare the two staffs, Lee wasn?t.

?Nothing good can come out of it,? he said. ?We?ve proven if we?re healthy we stand up well to anybody.?

There?s no doubt about that.

Halladay, Lee and Hamels finished second, third and fifth, respectively, in NL Cy Young voting last season. They finished second, third and sixth, respectively, in the league in ERA. On the whole, Phillies starters recorded a majors-best 2.86 ERA last season. That was the best mark by any big-league starting staff since 1985.

Phillies starting pitchers recorded 932 strikeouts last season ? the most by a big-league starting cast since the 2003 Cubs had 987.

Lee had 238 of those strikeouts. That total was second-best in the NL and the most of his career. His previous high in Ks was 185 in 2010. Why the jump?

Lee shrugged.

?I don?t know why,? he said. ?I?m not trying to strike people out, unless there?s a man on third. I just try to throw strikes and get outs early in the count.?

Throwing strikes and building endurance is Lee?s goal in spring training. He pitched three innings in Sunday?s 4-4 tie against Detroit and allowed six hits and two runs, both coming on Ryan Rayburn?s two-run homer in the first. Lee did not walk a batter and struck out three.

?My location was a little off,? Lee said. ?I will locate. It?s still early.

?The best thing is I got through it healthy. I?m building up endurance to get ready to throw 120 pitches.

?Early on [in spring training] you?re not worried about results. You?re more concerned with feeling food. You want success but getting ready for the season is what really matters.?

Lee?s turn in the rotation comes up again on Friday.

E-mail Jim Salisbury at jsalisbury@comcastsportsnet.com

Source: http://www.csnphilly.com/blog/phillies-talk/post/Lee-builds-endurance-stays-even-keeled?blockID=667672&feedID=693

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