Brad Lidge

taxman · Post by **taxman** » April 3 07, 8:57 am

Popeye_Card wrote:I think it's a combo. Hitters (especially in the NL Central) have simply said "we won't swing at that slider", and only look fastball. Sometimes he can throw the slider for strikes. Most times, he doesn't. So he falls behind and *has* to throw fastballs. One of two things happen when you throw a fastball that hard--either the batter is going to swing and miss (hence the 100+ K's), or he's going to make contact and hit the ball hard. A lot of those hard hit balls end up over the fence.

So is he not throwing the slider for strikes because he's injured, or could he never really do it, but batters swung at it in the past?

--P--

I think you are quite correct that the word is out to lay off the slider - that is why issues showed up sooner against Central competition; these teams knew him better.

However, the inability to throw the slider for strikes isn't an injury issue, and it hasn't always been there. The problem is mechanical - his left shoulder flies open, changing the plane of the pitch, flattening it and losing his control. He knows it, he's worked on it, but he hasn't corrected it.

The national media blaming this on Pujols - that I can understand, they're blathering idiots. But Cards fans taking credit for it? That would be like Braves fans taking credit for Rick Ankiel.

taxman · Post by **taxman** » April 3 07, 8:59 am

Cronos69 wrote:Richard Justice has apparently had all he can stand of Lidge:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/spo ... 83090.html

Justice also wrote immediately before the game that people tend to overamplify the opening game, and that no decisions should be made on anything that happened that night.

The lesson - as always - is that Justice is both a hypocrite and a moron.

Transmogrified Tiger · Post by **Transmogrified Tiger** » April 3 07, 9:36 am

taxman wrote:The lesson - as always - is that Justice is both a hypocrite and a moron.

He represents all that is wrong with sportswriting.

MDCardsFan · Post by **MDCardsFan** » April 3 07, 9:40 am

RC21 wrote:I think Lidge is hurt. The "in" thing is to blame some psychological problem because Albert ruined him, but his problems last year (and probably last night, too- I missed it) were because of poor command and slightly diminished velocity. These are often signs of injury and the guy has a history of them dating back before he reached the MLB level.

I was thinking the same thing. However, we can't dismiss the physcological effects of that moon shot. Truth is, he hasn't been himself since that pitch.

Given that he hung that pitch to Pujols, he may well have already been suffering some injury related mechanics problems during the NLCS. But in the back of his head, he can point to when everything fell apart and there's Albert glowering back at him.

Even if he is hurt and he eventually gets healthy, I'm not sure he will ever be the dominating closer he once was.

Phyrkrakr · Post by **Phyrkrakr** » April 3 07, 10:13 am

Just thought I'd bring it back...

One quick question: Is it mostly right handers launching off on Lidge now that they're not hitting the slider, or is it on both sides of the plate? If the slider doesn't have the hard bite (like the one Pujols yanked) it might be catching too much of the plate.

I like the "recognizing the slider" argument better, however, as it means that he's going to suck for a long time...

fanforever · Post by **fanforever** » April 3 07, 10:31 am

Cronos69 wrote:Richard Justice has apparently had all he can stand of Lidge:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/spo ... 83090.html

Richard Justice wrote:...That Brad Lidge, the Brad Lidge who shattered bats and made good hitters look like Little Leaguers, is gone. The Astros can pretend he exists. They can keep giving him the ball and praying for better results.

Astros manager Phil Garner said he'd do exactly that if he faced the same situation tonight. This is a mistake. Lidge has had enough chances. Garner shouldn't allow one player to drag his team down...

...In an indication that his once-unhittable stuff isn't fooling anyone, Lidge threw 26 pitches in the ninth inning. The Pirates swung and missed just five times...

Richard Justice sounds like some of our fans. It's only the first game of the year and he is already burying tghe guy. Garner said the right thing IMO

GatewaySnayke · Post by **GatewaySnayke** » April 3 07, 10:48 am

MDCardsFan wrote:
RC21 wrote:I think Lidge is hurt. The "in" thing is to blame some psychological problem because Albert ruined him, but his problems last year (and probably last night, too- I missed it) were because of poor command and slightly diminished velocity. These are often signs of injury and the guy has a history of them dating back before he reached the MLB level.
I was thinking the same thing. However, we can't dismiss the physcological effects of that moon shot. Truth is, he hasn't been himself since that pitch.

Given that he hung that pitch to Pujols, he may well have already been suffering some injury related mechanics problems during the NLCS. But in the back of his head, he can point to when everything fell apart and there's Albert glowering back at him.

Even if he is hurt and he eventually gets healthy, I'm not sure he will ever be the dominating closer he once was.

I used to find myself conversing with Cub fans on a regular basis (If they tell you that Jim Edmonds is gay then they aren't worth the time) and they said that Lidge's downfall could be seen in the last day of the 2005 season. Apparently he was not very good and blew a save and did not look right.

I thought he started losing it when the Cardinals finally started hitting him around in Games 3-4 of the '05 NLCS. Rodriguez hit it about 550 feet, but it stayed in the park.