I suppose Jason Lane has earned the right field starting position this season based on what he did 2 years ago too right? Heck, I bet Jeriome Robertson is available. We should go get him .. he'd be perfect for the 4th rotation spot. Not saying Lidge shouldn't be a big part of our team, but if he can't show us he can pitch in spring, he should NOT be the closer.
Wandy with 2 shutout innings, 0 hits, 2 strikeouts. Given that he had to be close to a disaster this spring to not get a spot, I'd say he's on the right track for one of the final two spots.
The Astros just went off for 7 runs in the sixth, led by doubles from Pence, Lane and Lamb (bases-clearing double), as well as a triple from Burke. Lane is 2-2 today with a walk and a double (.400 for the spring) Pence is 1-1 today with a double and RBI (.714 for the spring) Lee is 2-3 today with another RBI (.667 for the spring) Albers also pitched two scoreless. Only pitcher to allow runs today is Sampson.
no, lidge was dominant for two straight years and had one of the best playoff runs i've ever seen from a closer. robertson was mediocre in his best season and lane has had exactly half a season of just being good. it's not even close to a good comparison.
Lidge was great as a closer for 1 and half years with one great playoff performance and one terrible playoff performance immediately followed by a terrible year. I'm sure you'll throw the number of saves he got last year at me and claim he had a good year ignoring how horrible he was for pretty much the entire season as shown by ERA and WHIP. Yeah he's earned the closers role with no questions asked and without having to perform at all this spring He's been terrible for almost as long as he was good. It's not like we are talking about a guy that put 4-5 seasons of great baseball together here. Obviously, using Lane and Robertson as examples were meant to be a hyperbole, but it makes my point. I'm all for Lidge being our closer, but I think he needs to prove to us this Spring that he is capable of being our closer. Today was a good step towards that. If he can't keep an ERA below 5 again though I'll be very disappointed if he remains our closer for months like he was last season solely based on what he did several years ago.
Well the guy has been an MVP at every level he has been at so far. Maybe this will become his breakout season. Then again Luke Scott was as good as the Grapefruit League MVP two seasons ago and then stunk it up in the big leagues. You can never get too high or too low in Spring Training.
lidge was terrible last season, so no need wasting anymore time responding to what you think i'd say. however he has been bad for only one season. he's been very good for another, filthy the year after that, and excellent the year after that. his success in the pro level far and away overshines his one poor season. nowhere near the "terrible as long as he's been good" analysis. i'm not saying we should endure another season like last year but his leash in spring training shouldn't be any shorter than anyone else in the bullpens. he needs this time to sharpen up and if he gives up a few runs here and there i'm not gonna worry about it. he's earned the closer's role on opening day as far as i'm concerned. he messes up in real games i'll be one of the first to call him out.
OK this is my last post on this because I really don't think we are that far off. I agree right now the closers role is and should be his to lose and he has earned that. I agree that his leash shouldn't be shorter than anyone else in the bullpen. I'm not judging him on one bad performance or one good performance. All I am saying is that there should be some leash. If he just sucks it up all Spring long, I'd prefer he not be in that closers role to start the season and I think he should know that. My point is that its not like he is Roy O who has proved himself over the long haul as our #1 starter. He earned the right to be able to do whatever he wants during Spring to get himself ready. I think Lidge needs to perform decently to keep his role, but it shouldn't be a lock. As for my numbers, I am only looking at time spent in the closers role. He was actually pretty good last year when he was not in that role and that leads me to believe that it really was the pressure that was getting to him, not that he had completely lost his stuff. I still believe in him as a key pitcher on our team, but I don't think throwing him in there as the closer if he has a bad spring and hoping he will turn it around in the regular season is the way to go. Hopefully he will have a lot of games like he did today and this will not even be an issue to begin with.
agreed. his stuff has always been there, i think it was just a combination of things, maybe physically tired and mentally shaken, that had his control way off. hopefully they have it figured it out and he can continue on his good spring thus far.
Am I missing someone? What's wrong w/carrying 5 OF's (Scott Lee Burke Lane Hidalgo) 6 IF's (Lamb Ensberg Berkman Everett Biggio Loretta) 2 C's (Ausmus Quintero), 5 SP's, 7 RP's incl a closer? Is it just that Palmeiro's lefty contact bat is necessary off the bench?
