By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Switch-handed pitcher Pat Venditte — acquired from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for minor-league outfielder Joey Curletta — has only been able to call the Philadelphia Phillies his team for just over two weeks.
Despite making just three appearances as a non-roster invitee reliever — including 1 2/3 shutout innings in the Phillies' 6-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday — Venditte is already drawing attention from manager Pete Mackanin.
At the perfect time, too, as spring training camp in Clearwater is set to break on Friday. The 25-man roster must be set soon after, ahead of Opening Day on April 3 in Cincinnati.
"It's fun to watch Venditte pitch," Mackanin said of the Omaha, Nebraska native. "If I'm up in the stands and I see him throw four pitches from the right side and I reach over to get my Coke or beer and I look back up and he's throwing from the left side, I will start wondering how many beers I had."
He's fun to watch."
In 50 2/3 career innings, Venditte is 2-2 with 42 strikeouts, 23 walks, a 4.97 ERA and 1.362 WHIP ratio.
Space is limited in the Phillies' bullpen. Typically, they carry seven arms and as of right now, Venditte is not projected to be among them. Right-handers Jeanmar Gomez, Hector Neris and the offseason acquisitions of Joaquin Benoit and World Baseball Classic champion Pat Neshek are surely locks.
Right-handers Edubray Ramos (7 1/3 IP, 1.23 ERA) and southpaw Joely Rodriguez (10 IP, 3.60 ERA) are also likely to make the Opening Day roster. The only other left-hander on the 40-man roster is Adam Morgan. While Morgan would be a good long man option, the Phillies might decide to keep him loose in the minor leagues so he would be ready for a spot start when needed.
What could open the door for Venditte is if the club decides to not include 30-year-old RHP Luis Garcia in the bullpen mix. Garcia struggled early on this spring, allowing a combined five runs on six hits and a walk over his first two appearances. In his five appearances during the month of March however, Garcia has not allowed a run through 6 2/3 innings of work.
One thing Venditte has going for him would be his versatility. Assuming the aforementioned relievers excluding Garcia make the club, he would be just the second left-handed arm. Neither of the projected starters in Jeremy Hellickson, Clay Buchholz, Vince Velasquez, Aaron Nola and Jerad Eickhoff throw from the left side.
That alone could be Venditte's ticket in.
