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Brad Lidge – - A Tale of 2 Seasons

Saturday, September 19th, 2009 | Brad Lidge, Charlie Manuel, General, MLB, Philadelphia Phillies, Ryan Madson, Sports

The following is almost incomprehensible – how bad has Brad Lidge fallen – he has gone from perfect to downright awful.  In 2008, Philadelphia Phillies closer Brad Lidge appeared in 72 games and saved 41 games in 41 chances.  That’s right, Lidge did not blow a single save opportunity in 2008 and he helped lead the Phillies to the World Series title in October 2008.  His numbers looked like this – 2-0 record; 1.95 ERA; 1.23 WHIP; 92 K’s; & 35 walks.

Flash forward to 2009.  This is shocking – Lidge has saved 30 games, but he has blown 10 save chances throughout the course of the 2009 MLB schedule – yes 10 blown saves!  How can this be?  Lidge is 0-7 in 2008.  He has a 7.21 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP.  Lidge has walked 32 and struck out only 56.  Lidge was recently demoted for a few days to try to clear his head, but Manager Charlie Manuel let him close in his last 2 appearances.  On 9/13, Lidge entered the game against the Mets with the Phillies leading 5-2.  Lidge got the save but he gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in the process as the Phillies held on for the 5-4 win.  On 9/17, Lidge entered the game against the Nationals with the Phillies leading 4-1.  Lidge got the save again, but once again he gave up another earned run.  What is the deal?

Lidge has gone through this transformation before.  In 2005 and 2006, Lidge was lights out for the Houston Astros – 42 saves against 4 blown saves in 2005 & 32 saves against 6 blown saves in 2006.  But he struggled mightily in 2007 in his last season with the Astros – only 19 saves with 8 blown saves.  Ouch… Lidge seemed to find the magic touch last year in his 1st stint with the Phillies, but he has lost his confidence again in 2009.

A closer has saved 30 games with an ERA over 6.00 only once in the history of Major League Baseball.  That occurred in 2004 when Shawn Chacon saved over 35 games for the Colorado Rockies with a 1-9 record and a hefty 7.11 ERA.

Not sure Manuel is going to do come playoff time.  Manuel called on Ryan Madson to close during Lidge’s “rest period” and Madson saved 4 of the 5 games he entered in save situations.  In any event, we will likely see some interesting Brad Lidge stat lines during the next 2 weeks and in the playoffs…

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