PHOENIX (AP) -- Ted Lilly's first month last season featured a spectacular near no-hitter.
He came up short, and that was just the start of a season of ups and downs for the left-hander. He changed teams -- and coasts -- in early July, going from the New York Yankees to the Oakland Athletics. He hurt his shoulder, struggled with a blister on his pitching hand, and finished 2002 in frustration.
Lilly is healthy again, and upbeat about his chances to earn the No. 4 starter job for the A's, whose top three spots in the rotation are all locked up by aces Barry Zito, Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson.
Lilly never found his rhythm with his new team last year. He was on the disabled list from July 23 to Sept. 10 with shoulder inflammation, then returned to make three starts. He came out of the bullpen Sept. 28, a role he kept through the playoffs.
He hopes a healthy arm and some tweaks to his delivery and mechanics will help him make an impression with Oakland's coaches this spring, including new manager Ken Macha.
Lilly is sure he can throw more gems like that one in Seattle last April 27, when he carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning in a 1-0 Yankees' loss on the same day Boston's Derek Lowe no-hit Tampa Bay. Lilly finished with a one-hitter.
"I'm sure everyone's pretty happy to get back into camp and get the season started," Lilly said. "No matter what kind of year you had, whether it was the Cy Young year like Barry (Zito) did, I'm sure you want to do better. The mindset with everyone in this room is that you intend to have a better season than you did last year."
But the A's are going to make sure Lilly is completely healthy before they commit him to a starting role. Three lefties are in the mix for two spots in the rotation -- Lilly, John Halama and Ed Yarnall.
Macha knows Lilly is eager to play again now that he's full strength.
"He came in the office right off the bat and said he'd been playing catch, but without a mound," Macha said.
Lilly was referring to some throwing he did while on a two-week African safari for his honeymoon.
The 27-year-old Lilly made two relief appearances in the American League division series against the Minnesota Twins, and they were disastrous. He was 0-1 with a 13.50 ERA, and the A's lost in five games.
Lilly took the loss in Game 1, getting tagged for two runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning. He relieved Hudson with a 5-4 lead and no one on base before giving up the tying and go-ahead runs. He had a no-decision in Oakland's 11-2 loss in Game 4, when he also relieved Hudson.
"The fact is, he didn't pitch well for whatever reason," Macha said. "Hopefully everybody concerned with whether he's going to pitch well has looked at those reasons and straightened them out."
Lilly isn't too concerned.
"If I take care of what I need to take care of, things will fall intoplace," he said. "If I go out and I get people out, things will work out."
