While many Phillies players were just changing into their uniforms, Roy Halladay entered the visiting clubhouse at Marlins Park drenched in sweat.


Halladay didn't throw a bullpen session. He did that Friday.


On Sunday morning, he just threw off flat ground. But he came away feeling great and confident that he'd be back in the Phillies rotation before long.


There's even a chance he could avoid an official minor league rehab assignment and rejoin the Phils after the All-Star break.


Here is all Halladay said this morning:

Q: When is your next bullpen session?

Halladay: "Probably in New York at some point."

Q: It's been a month since you’ve appeared in a game. Will you need to go on a rehab assignment?

Halladay: "Uh, no I’m going to have to do some kind of up-and-down for sure. I think the next bullpen will be more of an up-and-down. A lot of it depends on where I go during the All-Star break, what I can do over that time. Whether it’s throwing in Clearwater, or whatever it may be. I think I’ll end up going down there and at least throwing. But I don’t know if it’s going to be long bullpens or what."

Q: How is the strength in that shoulder area?

Halladay: "Real good."

Q: All of the tests have gone OK?

Halladay: "Yeah, yeah -- all of that was well taken care of before we started throwing."

Q: You are symptom free?

Halladay: "Yeah, it’s just a matter of really getting the pitches back up. Get used to throwing off the mound and getting the pitch count built back up."

Q: Any idea of how long it will take for you to get stretched out? I guess it's hard to gauge right now...

Halladay: "I felt really good. Didn’t have any soreness. We’ll jump it next time and evaluate from there. Wanted to do a flat ground and evaluate it, and kind of go from there. I’ll talk to (pitching coach Rich Dubee) later today and kind of figure out. We had talked about an extended bullpen in NY. We’ll iron that it."

                

Q: Is your goal to return shortly after All-Star break?          

Halladay: "Yeah. Like I said, I don’t know where I’m going to fall during the break, but I’d like to be back as soon after that as I can. This whole process we’ve been going day to day, so there’s not really like a [target date]. Everything has gone really good. The next step, go from there. I think that’s a good way to approach it. If you get caught up with a set date, and if you’re a little more sore than you anticipate, then you get yourself in trouble. I think we’ll keep going day-to-day. I feel good. I haven’t been sore yet. We’ll keep advancing it and get as close to getting in a game as I can."