Lidge

[Reality]

rt bods Philly,

Do you want to continue to see Lidge ini games or are you sick of seeing Manuel put him in?

[rickortreat]

Manuel hasn't given up on him, because he thinks we'll need him to be that great closer that he was when we get into the playoffs.  Considering that we have Madsen in the bullpen, I'm not quite as worried. It makes sense to try to get Lidge to redevelop his confidence now, if at all possible. The Phillies would be better off if they had both he and Madsen in there as reliable stoppers.

Since the Phillies have a commanding lead, they can afford to take a risk now and then to try and get some of their less effective players into a groove. In truth it's the Phillies sporadic offense that's been causing Phila. problems more than their pitching. If they were producing runs, they could put Bozo on the mound and still win!

The starting pitching has been great, and as long as they can produce runs they are practically unstoppable. They have so much depth that they could put Martinez into the bullpen with Moyer, and still have a 4 man rotation with Lee, Happ, Blanford and Hamels. But they still need someone to be an absolute stopper when the game is close at the end, and that has to be Lidge or Madsen.

[Derek Bodner]

Considering that we have Madsen in the bullpen, I'm not quite as worried.

Madson's 3rd in the NL in blown saves himself.  And he only has 14 attempts!

Closer's a huge concern.  don't kid yourself.

[rickortreat]

Seems like Dabod's post was prophetic. Watched Lidge blow a save last night, and it was entirely his fault.  Whatever happened, he's lost his mojo.

All the playoff teams have hitters, and while the Phillies may be better at it, they're not that much better. Their closers are a serious weakness. Right now, it doesn't look like we have one, and neither Moyer or Martinez are good options for that spot. If Madsen doesn't come through, this team could be in real trouble.

[Derek Bodner]

All the playoff teams have hitters, and while the Phillies may be better at it, they're not that much better

They are 1st in the NL in Runs, doubles, home runs (by 33), slg, and ops and total bases.  They're fairly prolific.  And that's even with the month long slump they came out of.

they were also 2nd in runs and 1st in hr last year.  1st in runs and 2nd in hr in 2007.  1st and 3rd in 2006.  that's a pretty good trend.

They also have the best ERA in all of major league baseball since the all-star break. 

great offense and great starting pitching is usually a fairly good combo.

but lidge and madson have been horrible, and there really are no other options.  Charlie is going to really ride the starters in the playoffs.

[Reality]

Manuel is gonna consider other guys, including Pete Martinez in a savers role.
About time, i was hoping he wasn't going to just use Lidge good bad or ugly.

espn
Left-hander J.C. Romero and right-hander Brett Myers, both on the DL, might be able to help out. The Phillies are hoping each will be able to return next week.
Romero has been on the disabled list since July 23 with a strained left forearm and Myers, who missed most of the season because of a strained right hip, has a muscle strain in his back.
"If [Manuel] feels they can get them out, he'll put them out there," Amaro said. "And again, maybe Brad Lidge is one of those [players] out there."
Other potential ninth-inning options include right-hander Tyler Walker, who earned 23 saves for San Francisco in 2005, and rookie left-handed starter J.A. Happ.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4504696

[Thad_Young_FTW]

You can't take Happ out of the Rotation.  You can't take a 10 Win guy and put that in the bullpen. Same reason we demoted Moyer for Martinez.  Happ's too good to take outta the rotation.

So, who do we go to in the Ninth Inning for a save? 

Jamie Moyer.

Guy's a veteran, he's won games, he's seen different things.  He's  the  best possible option for  a closer right now. 

You can't say your willing to put Moyer in the bullpen but not designate a position for him.

Jamie Moyer: Your new 2009 closer.