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.”
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Showing posts with label Ryan Madson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ryan Madson. Show all posts
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
What to do about the ninth inning?
On a day where some questions about Cole Hamels appeared to be answered, other questions concerning Brad Lidge remain. Hamels pitched six innings and gave up just two earned runs Saturday afternoon against the Atlanta Braves on his way to what should have been his eighth win of the season, but when it came time for the Phils to turn the game over Brad Lidge, he gave up two runs in the ninth, and the Phillies lost 4-3.
Saturday’s outing by Hamels put to rest (at least until his next start) questions as to where the Phillies ace falls in the rotation as the season draws closer to the playoffs. In his previous two starts, Cole has only pitched 10 innings total, and he has also given up 10 earned runs and walked six batters while only striking out six. Throughout the season, Hamels has had a few quality starts followed by a few sub-par performances. The Phillies desperately need Hamels to string together four or five consecutive good starts not only to build his confidence going into the playoffs but to also provide the Phillies with the much-needed wins necessary to clinch the division.
Saturday’s game also saw another blown save by Phillies closer Brad Lidge, his eighth of the year. This comes just a day after Lidge looked so effective in saving Friday night’s 3-2 victory for the Phillies, earning him his 22nd save of the year. Sure, you could blame the defense for why the Phils lost on Saturday, but Lidge contributed to that by committing two costly errors on the same play to allow the tying run to score and put the winning run on third with nobody out. After two walks and a strikeout, Lidge eventually gave up a single to Omar Infante to complete the Phillies’ collapse.
With the season inching ever so closely to September and October, the question as to what to do with Brad Lidge looms over the defending world champs. His sole job is to record three outs, shut the door on the opposing team, and secure victory for the team, but throughout this year, he just hasn’t been getting that done at all. Even in his saves, Lidge has looked shaky, giving up home runs and walks.
But what can the Phillies do? They already know Ryan Madson can’t be their closer based upon how he performed in that role earlier this season, and J.C. Romero is not only on the disabled list but I’m sure the Phillies don’t want to take him out of his setup role. That only leaves Brett Myers as the only other viable option to pitch the ninth inning if Lidge continues to struggle. Myers already has a history of closing with the Phillies. In 2007, Myers moved from the rotation to the bullpen to fill that much needed vacancy. Myers, however, is still on the disabled list recovering from hip surgery, and suffered another setback. He was supposed to pitch one inning for the Phillies Clearwater minor league team, but he reportedly was scratched today because he injured his eye.
As the 2009 regular season draws to an end, the Phillies are going to need an effective Cole Hamels as well as a closer in which they have confidence, whether it is Brad Lidge, Brett Myers, or someone else. The rest of the staff is pitching just fine and the bats have started to come alive again, and the Phillies need that to continue if they plan on repeating in October.
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Saturday’s outing by Hamels put to rest (at least until his next start) questions as to where the Phillies ace falls in the rotation as the season draws closer to the playoffs. In his previous two starts, Cole has only pitched 10 innings total, and he has also given up 10 earned runs and walked six batters while only striking out six. Throughout the season, Hamels has had a few quality starts followed by a few sub-par performances. The Phillies desperately need Hamels to string together four or five consecutive good starts not only to build his confidence going into the playoffs but to also provide the Phillies with the much-needed wins necessary to clinch the division.
Saturday’s game also saw another blown save by Phillies closer Brad Lidge, his eighth of the year. This comes just a day after Lidge looked so effective in saving Friday night’s 3-2 victory for the Phillies, earning him his 22nd save of the year. Sure, you could blame the defense for why the Phils lost on Saturday, but Lidge contributed to that by committing two costly errors on the same play to allow the tying run to score and put the winning run on third with nobody out. After two walks and a strikeout, Lidge eventually gave up a single to Omar Infante to complete the Phillies’ collapse.
With the season inching ever so closely to September and October, the question as to what to do with Brad Lidge looms over the defending world champs. His sole job is to record three outs, shut the door on the opposing team, and secure victory for the team, but throughout this year, he just hasn’t been getting that done at all. Even in his saves, Lidge has looked shaky, giving up home runs and walks.
But what can the Phillies do? They already know Ryan Madson can’t be their closer based upon how he performed in that role earlier this season, and J.C. Romero is not only on the disabled list but I’m sure the Phillies don’t want to take him out of his setup role. That only leaves Brett Myers as the only other viable option to pitch the ninth inning if Lidge continues to struggle. Myers already has a history of closing with the Phillies. In 2007, Myers moved from the rotation to the bullpen to fill that much needed vacancy. Myers, however, is still on the disabled list recovering from hip surgery, and suffered another setback. He was supposed to pitch one inning for the Phillies Clearwater minor league team, but he reportedly was scratched today because he injured his eye.
As the 2009 regular season draws to an end, the Phillies are going to need an effective Cole Hamels as well as a closer in which they have confidence, whether it is Brad Lidge, Brett Myers, or someone else. The rest of the staff is pitching just fine and the bats have started to come alive again, and the Phillies need that to continue if they plan on repeating in October.
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Saturday, July 4, 2009
Big win a sign of things to come for Phils?
The Philadelphia Phillies won a game, and it came in front of their home crowd at Citizens Bank Park. Typically this is not headlining news, but the way things have been going for the Phils, it’s certainly worth noting.
The Phillies went 3-6 on their latest road trip and ended the swing by being swept in a three-game series at the hands of the Atlanta Braves. In that series, they lost the lead late in game one, got blown out in game two with ace Cole Hamels on the mound, and game three witnessed Ryan Madson self-destructing again.
There aren’t too many “must-win” games in the month of July, but Friday night’s contest against division rival New York Mets certainly was a “must-win.” The Phillies staggered into last night’s game with a 39-37 record and were in a tie for first place with the Florida Marlins. The third place injury-plagued Mets limped into last night’s game with a 39-39 record. If there was any time for the Phillies to take advantage of another team’s misfortunes, it was in last night’s game.
And that is what they did. The Phillies won the game 7-2 behind newest starting rotation fill-in Rodrigo Lopez, who went 6.1 innings and only gave up two earned runs. The offense also came to life and scored seven runs due in part to Jimmy Rollins going 2-for-5 with two RBI’s and Jayson Werth’s 16th home run of the season.
The Phillies hope to continue their winning ways today behind Jamie Moyer in game two of this three-game series versus the Mets, who are sending out Fernando Nieve. If the Phils can piece together a few victories against a team that is more decimated with key injuries than they are, maybe this can be what catapults them back to looking like a defending world champion.
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The Phillies went 3-6 on their latest road trip and ended the swing by being swept in a three-game series at the hands of the Atlanta Braves. In that series, they lost the lead late in game one, got blown out in game two with ace Cole Hamels on the mound, and game three witnessed Ryan Madson self-destructing again.
There aren’t too many “must-win” games in the month of July, but Friday night’s contest against division rival New York Mets certainly was a “must-win.” The Phillies staggered into last night’s game with a 39-37 record and were in a tie for first place with the Florida Marlins. The third place injury-plagued Mets limped into last night’s game with a 39-39 record. If there was any time for the Phillies to take advantage of another team’s misfortunes, it was in last night’s game.
And that is what they did. The Phillies won the game 7-2 behind newest starting rotation fill-in Rodrigo Lopez, who went 6.1 innings and only gave up two earned runs. The offense also came to life and scored seven runs due in part to Jimmy Rollins going 2-for-5 with two RBI’s and Jayson Werth’s 16th home run of the season.
The Phillies hope to continue their winning ways today behind Jamie Moyer in game two of this three-game series versus the Mets, who are sending out Fernando Nieve. If the Phils can piece together a few victories against a team that is more decimated with key injuries than they are, maybe this can be what catapults them back to looking like a defending world champion.
Read more!
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