Phillies' Lee to return Monday: 'There will be 29 scouts at that game'

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The Philadelphia Phillies will welcome Cliff Lee back into their rotation on Monday night, a return that is sure to turn heads all over the league as the trade deadline approaches.

The Phillies are 11 games back of the division and in a position to sell, and the four-time All-Star is a prime candidate to draw plenty of interest if he's able to prove his elbow injury is behind him. 

“There will be 29 scouts at that game,” one scout jokingly told CSN Philadelphia. 

Lee has been down this path before, having been the subject of a July trade twice already in his career. He maintained that his focus remained solely on performing his required duty. 

I know it’s the trade deadline and I know we haven’t played well this year and potentially guys could get traded and I’m obviously one of those guys. I don’t know what to think other than that. Right now I’m a Phillie and I’m going to try to help this team win. Hopefully we can turn it around and get on a stretch and get up close to the trade deadline and next thing you know we’re closer to being back in it and it’s not an issue. But the next couple of weeks we’ll be able to tell.

Lee is 4-4 with a 3.18 ERA this season over 10 starts. He turns 36 next month.