He's looking better ... I'd like to see him do well over several months before I declare him "back" His "back" is way way better than most pitchers "best ever"
Yes, ideally... but when his slider was off, it wasn't matter where he was putting his fastball (see Nady on opening day). As long as hitters were looking for it, they were able to tattoo it. They don't have that luxury if they have to worry about a magical dissapearing slider that looks EXACTLY like a fastball.
The whole deal with the Pooholes HR is kinda meaningless IMO . Where did it get the Cards ? Nowhere , thats right . Brad has looked good here recently . The last stat I heard was 14 ks with a 1.00 ERA in the past 9 innings . Thats getting there , but just wait and see .
i agree. the pujols thing is overplayed. brad's gotten him over and over since then. if it were such a mental block because of him, pujols would eat him alive since that hit. but he doesn't.
I wouldn't say that Pujols home run is meaningless at all. Lidge clearly hasn't been the same since. Don't get me wrong, I am all about Lidge returning to form. However, for the Astros to advance in the Central and playoffs, we are going to have to surpass the Cardinals year in and year out (even tho the Cards are struggling now) What happens when we are in a close race w/ the Cards and have to play them in the 3rd to last series this year, when Lidge faces Pujols in the 7th or 8th? I'd most likely urinate my pants in fear. Hopefully Lidge keeps it up though.
1. Lidge wasn't Lidge BEFORE the Pujols HR. this gets pointed out over and over and over again here. 2. surpassing the Cards this year won't be difficult. they have a ton of rebuilding to do and not much to do it with.
Lidge was also not Lidge AFTER the Pujols HR. this gets pointed out over and over and over again here.
i get what you're saying. but it makes no sense to me. if the pujols HR was it..if it's this huge mental hurdle he can't jump over...then why has he been so successful vs pujols since then? and why was he struggling so much before the pujols homer, to begin with.
Because it weren't the Pujols homerun. The media keeps saying it because it's such a compelling storyline. Problem is, it's also obviously BS.
anytime i hear someone in class or at work talking about lidge and this phrase pops up, i automatically label them a ****ing idiot. lol
Its pretty freaking easy to use the search function and check out everybody's dwindling perception of Lidge's dominance... starting with the 2nd game of the Cubs series (last series of the season), and then continuing with games 3 and 4 of the Cardinals series. And then... there was finally game 5... where apparently Lidge was first ruined.
and... it's sort of, kind of wrong. prior to the puljos homer, here were lidge's # from august through game 4 of the NLCS: 1.96 ERA; 1.27 WHIP; 32.1 IP; 44 Ks (12.7/9); 1 HR; 17/18 in saves. those are fairly dominant #s; the Ks were down a slight, almost insignificant amount (he struck out 13.5/9 from april-july), and the BBs were up (and it was the walk to edmonds that KILLED him that night). but otherwise... but i don't think puljos' HR had any impact, per se - i think the answer is far more simple: he was tired. two consecutive postseasons (on top of extensive work in the two consecutive septembers) and a third (iirc) consecutive day of work led to the guy finally running out of gas. but when he didn't properly rest during the offseason (WBC), and then started to struggle last year because of it while everyone was watching just to see if he would struggle... well, i think it did start to take on a life of its own and, as much as he denied it, seemed to swallow him whole.
I definitely agree Lidge was having problems before the Pujols homer and that was not the problem. I think the Pujols thing made it much harder and a longer process to correct the problems he was having because it was just one more added mental issue. So I think it was definitely a component of the current problem, but it certainly was not the root of the problem.
He did have a good outing agaist the Reds on Wednesday...Is he totally back, hell no, but good to see him doing some good...
