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In the Philadelphia Daily News, David Murphy talks with Phillies closer Brad Lidge, who is healthy and ready for opening day.
…not for nothing, brad, but you’ll never be ready for that circus…
Manger Charlie Manuel, on Lidge, as quoted by Murphy…
“I know this - I’ve got confidence in him. If we lose a game with a guy like that, we’re getting beat by somebody with a lot of talent and more than likely, if you keep sending him out there and sending him out there, you’re going to win more than you lose.”
In 67 innings for the Astros last season, Lidge was 5-3 with a 3.36 ERA along with 88 strikeouts and 30 walks.
…lidge was a disaster in 2006, but got it together a bit last season…on one hand, i wonder if the trend will continue and so this coming season he’ll be back on track…on other hand, if he could not handle the pressure and hitter’s park in houston, he’s going to get eaten alive in philly, who will rip him to shreds following his first blown save…
the guy has nasty stuff and the change of scenery is going to help. personally im worried that hes going to have a good year in philly.
There will be one huge factor that will be a detriment to Lidge in 2008
The Philly fans. When he blows three home games in April/early May with HR balls, that will be it.
Between the self-doubt that will start to creep into his head again, the constant booing, the put-down articles in the papers, the angry calls to sports radio and the death threats that will start piling up … Lidge will be finished.
Remember, this is the same guy that hasn’t yet bounced back from his pretty poor performance in the 2005 NLCS and WS
You never know . The Phillies were pretty resilient last year. Their closers by committee blew plenty of games. They seemed to bounce back most of the time.
Fans in both NY and Phi. have been known to boo pretty hard (see Sept. 07, Shea Stadium), and the media in both towns are tough, so anyone coming to either team from friendlier cities or who struggle in crucial spots (see Reyes, J) will have to learn how to deal with it.
If you were going to pick one team to choke last year it’d probably have been the team that just kept coming up short for the wild card for a number of years, not the team that was so talented it was ‘bored’ for most of the year.
The thing is when the Phillies were playing their best ball, their success was unsustainable…Manuel was keeping his starters in for like 5-6 innings, and then everyday went back to the same relievers…Its ok in the short term, but you can’t manage like that over the course of a full season, as we all know…I’ll be interested in how Manuel handles the pitching staff this year
Last year was just that…last year. If you look at the improvements both teams made over the winter, and add up he sum of their gains (Johan Santana > did the Phils resign Lohse yet?) and losses (Aaron Rowand > Tom Glavine), even with the addition of Lidge (against the addition of a seemingly heatlhy Duaner Sanchez), one would be hard pressed to say the Mets aren’t the best team in the division.
But you’re right, they still have to go out and play 162 before a champion is crowned.
What gives Phils fans hope about Lidge is the old contract year syndrome. We saw it last year with Rowand and have seen it numerous times before all over the league. And making Myers a starter again addresses at least one hole in the starting rotation. Lidge will blow saves, as will Wagner, as did Myers, but at least we have one more major league starter to play with.
Quick question – Who will have the fans with the shorter temper this year? The ones from NY or Philly? So before you start with the “Philly will not give him a chance” talk after an emotional, magical season, just think about the first game the Mets lose to the Phils at Shea.
Philly Boos Santa Clause…’nuff said
Met fan think one thought in little head…’nuff said.
Santa Clause movies did kinda stink, I’d boo them too.
It depends on when that first loss comes. If it comes on opening day at Shea, then yes, I see your point. But if it comes on day 2 or day 3, then that’s another story.
Or if it happens day one and day two and day three,
that will be yet another story. They really owned the
Mets last year, both home and away.
That has just got to change this year.
Usually with Lidge’s stuff, he should thrive with a change of scenery but something tells him at the first meatball that gets hit for a homerun, those demons will start entering his mind and he’ll get rattled.
I think Lidge will be so-so for the Phillies, he’ll be on a few days and off the next few. I’ve seen Lidge a handful of times with the Astro’s and I think his stuff won’t allow him to go into any long funk but we’ll see, that’s why games aren’t played on paper.
Lidge & Pujols: Round 2 at CBP.
Should be fun to watch.
Wagner vs Burrell, round three, should be fun to watch as well.
Is Burrell still a Phillie?!?! They couldn’t find a Little Leaguer to strike out 220 times a year? Hell, I’d do it for $50,000 much cheaper than the $14M Burrell will pull down this year!
And then we wonder why the Phills have no money left to sign ML caliber pitchers.
Seems to hit the Mets OK over his career…
The difference there is that the Cardinals and Astros were playing and winning games in the post-season. The Phillies haven’t won a single playoff game in what, a decade?
Kinda funny coming from fans of team that couldn’t beat Washington or Florida with their season on the line…
I’ll remember to duck Tina,
Pujols could hit a ball all the way to Manhattan when he sees Lidge!
hahaha yes and he will =)
As much as I would love to embrace the “oh my Lidge in that bandbox will get destroyed” theory his career numbers in that bandbox in Philly, while a small sample, are pretty good although he has put alot of guys on base.
10 G, 9 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 11 K, 3 HBP, 3 SV, 0-0 WL
So with a lot of guys on base those eventual solo shots will turn into backbreaking 2 and 3 run homers, sprinkle in the occasional grand slam and you have BIG trouble for little Brad.
I hope you’re correct. My point was that, so far, Lidge has exhibited the ability to wiggle out of trouble. Which makes him like most mortal closers. At least in 2006 he allowed bad things to snowball and a return to that trend is what I’m hoping for as a Met fan. He’s used to having home fans that range from polite to indifferent. He won’t get either of those things in CBP.
I hear you Hebner,
personally I feel “wiggling out of trouble” = very lucky
which means eventually all those stranded runners will turn into earned runs.
That’s why I never liked Bannister as a Met. People cited his ability to miraculously leave the bases loaded every time as a good thing. It just meant that he was giving up a lot of hits and walks and getting a lucky out here and there.
This guy Lidge is in a contract year. He’ll blow a few saves but he’ll save a bunch too (just like Billy the Kid). Remember, with that offense, he will be coming into the 9th with 2-3 runs leads to protect. I wouldn’t be surprised if he saves 40 games.
Lets look at some #s then.
Lidge, the past two seasons has been giving up 1.2 HRs per 9 innings.
That rate is pretty close to a certain Armando Benitez (1.3 per 9 innings) in 1999-2000 when he was a “dominant closer”
For some more perspective, Wagner in his two Phillie seasons (2004-2005) was giving up 0.79 HRs per 9 innings at Citizens Bank Bandbox. In his last two years in Houston (2002-2003 at Minute Maid Park) and his past two seasons as a Met, Wagner was giving up the gopher ball at a rate of 0.84 per 9 innings.
Yes, these are very small and not very scientific samples (I threw this together in all of 10 mins) but I think it is pretty likely that Lidge will continue the downward spiral that he’s been on since the 2005 postseason, contract year or no contract year.