Is anyone going to acknowledge how good Lidge has been lately??

by LondonPhillie on Aug 25, 2010 6:44 PM EDT

In his last 10 appearances totalling 9.1 innings, Lidge has 7 saves with none blown. But it goes way beyond that. His ERA is 0.00. He has 11 Ks and no walks. He has only given up 4 hits for a 0.43 WHIP. As much as we've all come to lose confidence in Lidge over the past year plus, is it finally time to say that we have our dominant closer back?

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Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will.

by FuquaManuel on Aug 25, 2010 9:02 PM EDT reply actions

I’m with FM here.

Don’t get me wrong, it is encouraging to see this. But we were “encouraged” at particular points in ’09 before he fell back into his craptastic performance. I think we are still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

by WanderingMoses on Aug 25, 2010 9:48 PM EDT up reply actions

I don’t know that most are waiting for the other shoe to drop, to imply that we’re expecting him to mess up eventually. But I think there is still serious worry that this will be the time he messes up. I think when Lidge blew the save on the Zimmerman homer there was an expectation that he wouldn’t recover from that. But like LondonPhille points out, he has been fantastic since then. As much as I admire Madson’s ability at times to dominate hitters there is something about a closer mentality that Lidge has developed over, what, six or seven years now, that allows him to recover from bad outings. Not always, and it often doesn’t look pretty, but Lidge has shown he has what it takes to be a closer.

by phillyinportland on Aug 26, 2010 12:57 AM EDT up reply actions

I would say that, while the jury is still out, this is FAR more encouraging than anything we ever saw in 2009. He never had control last year. His ERA was never under 4, aside from maybe the first few weeks of the season.

Do we have our dominant closer back? No, and I don’t know that Lidge ever was expected to be that if not for That One Ridiculous Year. However, it appears we have a major league pitcher who is able to throw strikes at least some of the time and get some outs. He’s not going to be Mariano Rivera, but if he can keep being Brian Fuentes, we might be okay.

by Rujasu on Aug 26, 2010 8:57 AM EDT up reply actions

I’m not acknowledging it simply because I don’t want to jinx it.

by PhillyFriar on Aug 25, 2010 10:20 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

what he said

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Aug 25, 2010 10:33 PM EDT up reply actions

What they said.

Flyers Fans: We've survived Lock-outs, Lindros and Cooperalls. If you want to get rid of us, you'll have to split an atom or two.

by KreiderDesigns on Aug 25, 2010 11:22 PM EDT up reply actions

Me too…

by dannijd on Aug 26, 2010 1:51 AM EDT up reply actions

well…..its gotta start somewhere and i think lidge is healthy and getting his mojo back just in time for sept/oct.

by #26HOF2B on Aug 25, 2010 10:05 PM EDT reply actions

Lidge has been good in his last 9.1 innings pitched, yes.

But using a sample this small to conclude that he is still the most qualified pitcher on the team to be closing games is as stupid as the Phillies using Madson’s “struggles” in the 9th inning as evidence for NOT using him as the closer.

Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will.

by FuquaManuel on Aug 25, 2010 10:11 PM EDT reply actions

Lidge has shown a pretty remarkable change in approach though. He’s taken a tick off his fastball, losing velocity but gaining location/command, which as we all know is much more important. And the slider remains unhittable.

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Aug 25, 2010 10:34 PM EDT up reply actions

9.1 innings is still 9.1 innings.

Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will.

by FuquaManuel on Aug 25, 2010 11:06 PM EDT up reply actions

“You see this Stanley? You see this? This is this. This isn’t something else. This is this.”
- Michael (Robert DeNiro) in The Deer Hunter

by woodyj on Aug 25, 2010 11:19 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

MAO! MAO! D IDI MAO!

Flyers Fans: We've survived Lock-outs, Lindros and Cooperalls. If you want to get rid of us, you'll have to split an atom or two.

by KreiderDesigns on Aug 25, 2010 11:24 PM EDT up reply actions

I would also include his confidence level.

"Let your Cleveland hang out!!!" *tm

by Drexel Dawg on Aug 26, 2010 8:27 PM EDT up reply actions

But it isn’t just the last 9.1 innings. On the year:

31.1 IP, 38 K,15 BB (of which 4 are IBB), 5 HR
His competition has an .755 OPS, 9th highest in the NL among players with 25 IP.
His HR/FB rate is 14.3%, which might regress down a little bit too.

This isn’t terrible.

by Vaughn Haze on Aug 28, 2010 2:18 PM EDT up reply actions

I’m cautiously optimistic about him. As mentioned above it’s a small sample size, but he’s got 11 K’s to 0 BB’s. So while it might not hold up, at least the results aren’t just smoke and mirrors.

by zfg on Aug 26, 2010 5:21 PM EDT reply actions

SHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
Don’t jinx it.

"Let your Cleveland hang out!!!" *tm

by Drexel Dawg on Aug 26, 2010 5:37 PM EDT reply actions

I don’t know if you’re joking or not, but just in case, it doesn’t work that way.

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Aug 26, 2010 6:07 PM EDT up reply actions

…and yes I was kidding around.

"Let your Cleveland hang out!!!" *tm

by Drexel Dawg on Aug 26, 2010 8:28 PM EDT reply actions

ok cool

Kills me when people are berated for discussing legitimate topics for fear of the JINX.

http://www.thegoodphight.com

by WholeCamels on Aug 26, 2010 8:54 PM EDT up reply actions

SHHHHH!!

Don’t talk about the jinx! You’ll jinx the jinx, resulting in an inescapable doublejinx, leading to the Bank falling into a unknowable 12th dimension populated solely by Rod Barajas clones!

by Phrozen on Aug 29, 2010 10:04 PM EDT up reply actions