Ninth inning is still a problem

Yesterday, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel saw another bullpen disaster unfold in front of his eyes. Ryan Madson, the Phils newly appointed closer, blew his sixth save opportunity of the season when he gave up a 2-run bomb to Mets third baseman David Wright, and the Phillies lost 10-9. Madson’s latest miscue came just days after being labeled the team’s new closer for the time being.

Madson, of course, was replacing former Phillies closer Brad Lidge, who has had question marks surrounding him all season. Lidge lost his role after he almost blew his 11th save opportunity of the season in Washington on Tuesday, but luckily Madson came in to save the day. Madson was then trotted out on Wednesday to close out the Nats again and was successful in doing so. He also succeeded in saving the game against the Mets on Friday. Then Saturday happened when the Mets scored five runs on the Phillies bullpen, three runs against Brett Myers and two runs against Ryan Madson.

If I am Charlie Manuel, I only have two options: make Brett Myers the closer or pray for a Brad Lidge miracle. The Ryan Madson experiment is cute and all, but he’s blown almost as many saves as Brad Lidge in not nearly as many chances. Don’t get me wrong, Madson’s stuff looks good at times, but he makes too many costly mistakes, and I just don’t think he has what it takes mentally to do the job.

That being said, I don’t think Brad Lidge has the mental makeup this year to get the job done either. Last year, teams were scared to face a confident Lidge; this year, they salivate at the opportunity to bat against the Phillies shaken closer. Maybe a couple weeks off from closing out games will give Lidge enough mental rest to get his act together.

In the meantime, I think Charlie needs to hand the ball off to Brett Myers in the ninth. He was the team’s closer in 2007 when the Phillies won the division, so he is familiar with the role. Myers loves being in the spotlight and is also hoping to show this team what he can still do, especially since this is the last year of his contract.

Whatever Charlie decides to do, he needs to do it fast. The clock is winding down on the 2009 season, and there isn’t much time left to keep playing “Musical Closers.”