OK Charlie, you’ve stood by your man. We get it. He won the World Series for us last year. That was awesome. We all thought it was awesome. But at this point, you just look stubborn. And you are bordering on stupid. Lidge is incapable of closing this year. You aren’t going to win the World Series again with a closer with a 7.00 ERA, 10 blown saves and who can’t throw a strike with any particular consistency. Make a change – Madson, Myers, whoever. Make a change, and make it now.
Madson, absolutely not. He’s worse than Lidge at the closer spot.
For the record, Fernando Vina is delusional. I was on the espn.com baseball homepage and I saw that one of the video clips was a BBTN Clubhouse segment about Brad Lidge, so I decided to check it out.
Vina said that Brad Lidge is the Phils closer, that he was on the mound when they won the title last year, that he has the stuff to get the job done, and that he still has time to get it together before the playoffs. Spoken exactly like the ex-player he is.
Myers
To Lidge’s credit, he had to face Geoff Blum, Chris Coste, Jason Michaels, and Kaz Matsui!!
/sarcasm
How about the Phils’ maddening inability to beat unknown pitchers with high ERAs?
This seems to happen a lot: An opponent calls up some kid from the minors, he goes out and compiles a 6.50 or 7.50 ERA, but when he faces the Phillies he turns into Cy Young.
I’m just guessing so correct me if I’m wrong. The Phillies are pretty much a slugging machine. It takes a lot of things to go right, including timing, to knock a ball 400 feet. The Phillies have a better shot at getting their timing down against a good pitcher they’ve seen several times as opposed to a lousy pitcher they haven’t seen at all.
Teams that are good at small ball can easily chip away and manufacture runs against rookie pitchers and wear them down, but the Phillies tend to get themselves out when they have runners in scoring position. We live and die by our streaky power game and during cold streaks we make mediocre pitchers look very good. I just hope we get on a hot streak near the end of the season that carries through the playoffs.
Oops, I went way off point. Any updates on the bullpen?
Drolz,
Here is a bullpen update for you with some J. A. Happ and Greg Dobbs news thrown in. From Todd Zolecki (7:41PM):
J.A. Happ has a strained right intercostal muscle and will miss Saturday’s start against the Mets. The Phillies hope he can rejoin the rotation next week. … Left-hander Scott Eyre felt a “quick and sharp” pain in his left elbow Monday in Houston. Doctors examined him today, and said he is day to day with elbow soreness. … J.C. Romero had a cortisone shot in his left elbow today. He will be shut down for a couple days. They will see how he responds and go from there. … Ryan Madson had tendinitis in his right biceps, but he said he is ready to pitch. … Greg Dobbs is running in Floriday and could begin a rehab assingment soon. … Clay Condrey will start throwing simulated games soon and could begin a rehab assignment after.
Apparently, Charlie doesn’t think it’s enough yet with Lidge. Also from the same Todd Zolecki post:
Charlie Manuel is sticking with Brad Lidge, but his patience has a limit.
He said this afternoon at Nationals Park that while Lidge remains his closer, there will come a time when the Phillies must “win the game.”
Phillies right-hander Brett Myers remains Manuel’s top option to close should Lidge continue to struggle and the Phillies decide they need to go in a different direction.
“When that comes up I think it’s something we will definitely work with,” Manuel said. “I think that he’s our closer. I talk about it every day with (pitching coach Rich) Dubee as far as where he’s at and how he feels and what he’s doing. But at the same time we’re trying to win a championship and everything like that. I’m hoping he’s going to really get more consistent and really help us.”
Asked if he has thoughts about Myers, Manuel said, “I have a lot of thoughts. Really. I think about winning the game. How many times you have guys in the last five years heard me say, ‘I try to win the game.’ What did you make that dumb move for? I said I did it because I tried to win the game. How many times have you heard me say that? Believe me, I was trying to win the game.”
For his part, here is what Brad Lidge had to say:
“We’re in first place,” Lidge said. “Unless catastrophe strikes we’re heading to the playoffs. My mission is to get myself as good as I can be for the playoffs and to do the things that I can do in the postseason. That’s what September is going to be for me: getting locked in. I’ve been having three good outings, one bad outing. Three good outings, one bad outing. I’d like to get to the point where they’re going to be all good. At some point I’ll look back and say, ‘Man, that was a crap year.’ If September goes well and I throw well in the postseason then I’ll be happy with the year. I really will. Because that’s the goal right now.”
Another update from Todd Zolecki on the Lidge situation (5:14PM today):
“I’m going to sit down sometime along the way and talk to him or whatever,” Manuel said. “I’m getting kind of tired, if you want to know the truth. Really, I am. And the reason is because I figure I can put him in the game when I want to. I’ve been very loyal to him. I’ve stuck with him. I did everything I think possible to get him going. There’s no way I want to ever lie to him and things like that. Like I told you last night, I don’t do that. I don’t have a history of doing that. I don’t do it. But at the same time, we’re going to win the game. Hey, the best way we can win the game. If Brad’s not out there to close, well then I guess that’s going to be my decision. We are going to play to win the game. Our team definitely is not about the one guy, either. I’m sure he feels that way. Really. It’s very important that we get him straight and right. But at the same time we’re going to play to win the game.”
“He’s having an off season,” Manuel said of Lidge. “And we’re at the place where we need to win some games. If we’re going to win our division, we need to win some games. These are very important games and we need to win them, and I guess I’m going to pitch who I think on that night can do the job. When he gets in there and he gets consistent, he can take that job right back. I look at him in the future as being the closer for the Phillies. But right now we’re going to try to win games. My first priority is to win the game.
“Let me tell you something. When I managed in Cleveland I’d go get my pitcher whenever I wanted to. I’d go get my closer. I used to take (Bob) Wickman out of games and he used to get mad. I’d take John Rocker out. I didn’t give a damn. Because you know what? We were trying to win the game. The main thing was we win the game. If you don’t want to win the game or anything I can put whoever I want to out there, but I’m going to try to have the best guy on that night out there pitching that I possibly can have.”
“I’m the manager. I kind of go with how I feel and what I think,” he said. “I’ll take the responsibility. You can put it all on me. Really. I’ll take that. … I’ll bring anybody in the game, all right? I don’t care. Really. When you get right down to it, you me to tell you the truth? I’m not afraid or nothing like that. That’s no big deal. He might be in there tonight. He might be. He might not.”
True to his word, Manuel has sent Madson in to close tonight’s game. Wouldn’t it be great for Madson to step up, get the job done, and in so doing make it an easy call for Charlie and resolve this issue?
Madson’s mentality is support, not prime time. Jacksonville Brett, the man to reel it in.