Rotation Fixed, Now What About the Phillies Bullpen?

It wasn't Roy Halladay, but the Phillies filled needs for a top of the rotation starter and a righty bat off the bench yesterday when they traded for Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco. So that makes the Phillies the clear favorite in the National League, right? Well, yes and no. The deal with Cleveland certainly gave them a formidable top of the rotation to go along with the best offense in the league, but a July hot streak has hidden what could be the Phillies' Achilles heal come October: the bullpen.

JC Romero, Chad Durbin, and Clay Condrey all currently on the DL, depleting the Philadelphia relief corps. But the offense had been scoring a lot of runs of late, and combined with some good starting pitching, the bullpen's problems have been somewhat mitigated, save for the all too common Brad Lidge heart attack special. But therein lies the biggest issue...

With baseball's non-waiver trade deadline less than 24 hours away, it appears that the Phillies have finished dealing and therefore bullpen help might not be on the way from outside the organization. I don't see this as a problem for two reasons. First, trading for a reliever from outside of the organization can be a crap shoot. You never really know what you're going to get, but you know you're not going to get a fresh arm. And a couple of those are what the Phillies need right now. It's not like the fatigue on a reliever's arm resets when he gets traded to a new team.

Second, it's very possible that reinforcements are on the way within the next few weeks, provided fill-ins like Kyle Kendrick and Tyler Walker can hold down the fort for that long. When Pedro Martinez is ready to pitch in the major leagues, either he or JA Happ will be sent to the bullpen, and either has the potential to make a major impact in that role. Rodrigo Lopez could be given a shot in the bullpen after tonight's start, but he could also be placed on waivers, sent to the minors if unclaimed, or even traded. Brett Myers is currently in Clearwater rehabbing from hip surgery and hopes to join the team as a reliever in mid to late August. So with Ryan Madson, Chan Ho Park, and Scott Eyre still performing reliably in middle relief and set-up roles, it is safe to say that that part of the bullpen should be fine the rest of the way and won't likely have an adverse effect on the Phillies division title chances. The problem comes in the playoffs. The problem is Brad Lidge.

Anyone who has been paying attention this season knows that Brad Lidge has been really bad. Here we are, almost in August, and Lidge's ERA is still over 7.00. It's not just the blown saves. It's the shaky saves. It's the cardiac saves. It's the runs given up in tie games. I don't know a single Phillies fan who trusts Brad Lidge in the 9th inning with the game on the line. But I don't think the he will prevent the team from winning the division. The NL East is weak and the Phillies have enough fire power elsewhere to cover for him. But he very well could prevent the Phillies from repeating as World Champs.

I'm not sure anyone really knows for sure what the problem is with Lidge this season. One would think that he is almost certainly hurt, but he spent some time on the DL this season and it didn't seem to help. I also think that he is a bit of a headcase. We saw this at times when he was with Houston (he was available for trade in the "needs change of scenery" bin), but we didn't see it last year in Philly because he never had a reason to get down on himself, what with being perfect in save chances and recording the final out of the World Series and everything. But this year I think injuries have affected him to an unknown degree and he's let some bad outings snowball on him mentally. The bad news for the Phillies is that I think they are stuck with him as a closer, and their chances of a repeat rest on his right arm.

Brad Lidge signed a massive contract extension last season, and Charlie Manuel sticks by his guys. We've seen this pay off with guys like Jimmy Rollins and Jayson Werth eventually coming through with the confidence of their manager. Also, with a trade unlikely, it does not appear that the Phillies have any alternatives. Ryan Madson proved that he could not handle the 9th inning earlier in the season. Chan Ho Park has been the only other consistent reliever all season and it is doubtful that he would be removed from his multiple inning role. Brett Myers was a fantastic closer for the Phillies in 2007, but his return is not guaranteed. Even if it was, I still think Charlie would stick by his guy. He has given no indication that he wouldn't. So in the absence of any viable alternatives and with a manager who has given no indication that his confidence in Lidge is wavering, the Phillies only option is for their closer to figure this thing out at some point. While it is certainly possible that this could happen, nothing about Lidge's performance gives anyone any confidence that it will. Well, except for Charlie Manuel, the only person who's confidence (or lack thereof) actually matters. The rest of us are stuck. We have no choice but to ride this Brad Lidge roller coaster and hope that it comes to a complete stop somewhere near Broad Street, and when we get out, disoriented but exhilarated, there will be a another parade waiting for us.