Posts tagged ‘Brad Lidge’

I almost called this post “Lights Out Lidge”, but I hate that phrase with a passion.  I hope I never start using it.  The thing is, it’s incredibly accurate right now.  Brad Lidge has been nothing short of spectacular.

Watching Lidge pitch the 9th tonight against his old squad, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons to the ghosts of closers past.  So often with pitchers, we talk about their ability to keep their composure on the mound.  And yet with closers, for some reason that’s out the window.  Instead, we tend to think of them more like hockey goalies: Head cases with incredibly fragile psyches.  But Lidge seems to have a coolness about him so far this season that’s just incredibly calming.  It’s like when he comes in, thousands of Phillies fans all think to themselves, “We’ve got this.”

Pitching against your old team, in their park no less, is a hard thing to do.  Almost every guy on that team wants to be the one to take you out.  Want some proof?  As good as Billy Wagner has been in his career, he’s never been able to pitch against his former teams.  When he was a Phillie, Wags struggled against the Astros, and I don’t need to tell Phillies fans that he’s had his share of struggles against this team since going to the Mets.

Pitching against your old team also comes with a burst of adrenaline, and that can really affect a pitcher in a bad way.  I think about Brett Myers on opening day of last year.  He was pitching against the Braves late in the game, had two strikes on Edgar Renteria, and wanted to go for the strikeout.  He overthrew a fastball, and Renteria crushed it.  The Phillies lost that game, and that was one of the major factors in their slow start.

But with all of the mental troubles closers can have, with all of the struggles they go through against their old teams, and with all of the adverse affects their adrenaline can cause, there was Brad Lidge tonight closing the door once again.

The adrenaline was there; his fastball topped out at 97 mph, about 3 mph faster than his average so far this year.  The emotions were there, too.  His last out came at the expense of one of his best friends: MVP candidate Lance Berkman.  But he was able to use it to his advantage.  His calm personality on the mound ended up winning out, and instead of overthrowing pitches, he simply had more zip on them.

Any doubts I might have expressed about the Lidge deal before the season are gone.  This guy has been better than most Phils fans, myself included, could have ever anticipated.  Who knows, if he keeps this up, I might have to start calling him “Lights Out Lidge”.

We’re finally starting to get some information about yesterday’s injury to Brad Lidge. He’ll have arthroscopic surgery on his no-longer-surgically-repaired right knee to fix a torn meniscus. The surgery will most likely keep him out 3-6 weeks, which means he’ll miss opening day.

Philscast, of course, will have a special report on this coming up as soon as possible. But in the meantime, you have to wonder about this injury. All we heard when the Phils signed Lidge was that his knee was fine and he would be ready for opening day. But he threw one pitch, and now he’s hurt already. One pitch. That’s upsetting, to say the least.

I remember last year when the Phillies made a trade to bring in pitching help. They brought in Freddie Garcia and they told us he was healthy and would be ready for opening day. He was never healthy, he was never ready, and he was certainly never effective in any of his starts.

Later, it came to light that the Phils had never bothered giving Garcia a physical, even though scouts had noticed a major drop in his velocity. You have to wonder if they gave Lidge a proper, thorough physical, or if they just repeated history.

Either way, it doesn’t seem to matter at this point. They can’t predict if Lidge’s injury will be something that nags him all season long. But he’s thrown one pitch, and his health count is at oh-and-one. All they can do now is show us their backup plan. Expect Tom Gordon to handle the closing duties for now. But if he can’t handle it, they’re really out of options. Brett Myers will have to move back to the bullpen.

That’s a move that would devistate their starting rotation, which leaves them in a tough spot. Of course, if they’re willing to spend the money, I have another suggestion:

Sign Kyle Lohse, and sign him now.

Every team is in camp and Spring Training games start this week. Lohse is still a free agent, and he has to be willing to lower his contract demands in the interest of finding a home. If Myers goes to the ‘pen, Lohse gives the Phils a viable number three starter to soften the blow. If Myers stays in the rotation, your starters just got that much stronger. It’s the perfect time to pull the trigger on this. Of course, they’d have to be willing to spend the money…