The Whole Brad Lidge Thing

Whoever said good closers are (a) overpaid (b) easy to find (c) easy to replace and (d) completely overrated, I submit to you Brad Lidge. This is a guy who was absolutely filthy for 3 seasons (2003-2005). In 228 appearances, he finished 118 games, saving 72 of them. He only blew 13 saves (or one every 17.5 outings). His strikeout to walk ratio was 3.75:1. He averaged 12.83 K's per 9. He allowed 1.08 base runners per inning and his ERA was 2.59. These are exemplary numbers for any closer, especially considering they span a three-year stretch.

Then came October 17, 2005. It was game 5 of the NCLS and Lidge was fresh off saves in games 2, 3, and 4. It was the top of the ninth. There were two outs and runners on first and second when Albert Pujols slugged an 0-1 pitch onto the railroad tracks in left field to tie the game.

The look on Lidge's face in this photo is what I find interesting. It's as if in that moment, three years of dominance were rendered utterly meaningless. Everybody wondered if that majestic, although ultimately meaningless post-season home run (Houston won the series the next night) would cause Lidge long-term harm.

Now that Lidge is setting up for Dan Wheeler, I think that question has been all-but-answered because his numbers speak for themselves.

After game 5, Lidge (who went on to lose two World Series games, one after giving up a walk-off to light hitting Scott Podsednik) has suffered statistical setbacks across the board. His strikeout-to-walk is down (2.85:1), his strikeout per 9, while still fantastic, is down slightly (12.44), his ERA has more than doubled (5.46), his WHIP is through the roof (1.46), and he has just 32 saves (with 7 blown saves) in 83 outings (good for one every 11.8 appearances). What's worse, especially for a closer, is that he's starting to be a gopher-ball guy. He allowed a round-tripper once every 13.2 innings during his 3 years of dominance. Since game 5 though, someone's taken him yard once every 6.7 innings.

I doubt Lidge will ever be as good as he was during his pre-game 5 days, just because he set the bar so incredibly high. I also wonder what, if anything he'd be worth in the post-season. He served up two monumental bombs to two completely different types of hitters, in two completely different parks, and clearly hasn't recovered, mentally. And while I'm a little surprised that Astros Manager Phil Garner made the change as early as he did, I think it's the right one because for a pitcher, especially a reliever, brain injuries take a lot longer to heal than body injuries, and sometimes they never do.