"Having finished his typically rigorous workout Sunday, Raul Ibanez walked through the Phillies' clubhouse to his locker, a path he will tread several times a day for the next six weeks here at Bright House Field. But on his first day in camp, something looked different.

He wasn't limping.

"I feel a lot better," Ibanez said. "It's a big difference."

Now, at last, he can admit it. For several months last season, he gritted his teeth and coped with searing pain caused by a torn abdominal muscle. Ibanez had a sports hernia and, although doctors gave him the option of having surgery last July, he opted to play through it, never publicly acknowledging discomfort that he says grew "unbearable."

Even now, though, that's about all he will say on the topic. Looking for Ibanez to use the injury, which required surgery Nov. 9, as an explanation for his numbers' submarine-like plunge during the season's second half? That's not going to happen. To Ibanez, that would be an excuse and Ibanez doesn't make excuses.

"That had nothing to do with it," he said. "That was me. I should've been better. I should've played better.

"I was hurting in May and I was playing well then. It has nothing to do with anything I was feeling. Everybody has discomfort at that point of the season. That wasn't me there at the end there and I'm looking to correct that."

So, five weeks after the surgery, Ibanez resumed his intense, albeit modified, training program at a facility near his Miami home. He started hitting last month. When the Phillies hold their first full-squad workout Tuesday, the 37-year-old left fielder said he won't be restricted from doing any physical activities.

Ibanez's first season with the club was marked by extremes. He batted .340 with 19 homers, 51 RBIs and had a .716 slugging percentage in 50 games through June 2, earning his first career All-Star Game selection. But after that, as the pain in his groin intensified, he hit only .228 with 15 homers, 42 RBIs and a .446 slugging percentage in his final 84 regular-season games."