Before his 2006 implosion, Lidge had had 2 great years and one good one. Coming into this year, Valverde has had 3 great years and 1 bad one. And during his bad year, it seems as though he was pitching injured the first half (8.9 ERA), was out for a month or two, and then was as dominant as ever after (1.9 ERA). The injury is just a guess - I'm not sure what happened that year, but it would make sense. So I'm not sure Lidge's stretch of dominance was any more than Valverde's.
yeah i just read that he's starting and byrdak is also up. wish it wasn't under these circumstances, but i like that they are getting a shot early in the season.
Was at the game today. As I told the lady in front of me who said, "Don't be so nervous", I was nervous in the 8th when I saw Valverde start warming up. Still though, it was a lot of fun. Some big hits (I'm really liking Matsui in the 2 hole now that he's healed his), Chacon pitched decently and Valverde, despite a yip here and there, pitched OK, From where I was sitting (down the 3rd base line) it looked like Valverde got squeezed on a pitch or two on the walk and there wasn't really much he could do about the dribbler base hit. Good game, good day.
Comparing Lidge, at his peak, to Valverde's good years is not even close. And while Valverde racked up the saves last year, 7 blown saves is still significant. Also, Lidge had transferred that domiance to the playoffs in 2004 and 2005 (until Pujols/Podsednick)... which is a setting that even the most elite of closers will struggle with.
Lets look at their best 3 numbers in each category: Lidge's best ERAs: 1.90, 2.29, and 3.36 (oddly enough, last year) Lidge's best WHIPs: 0.92, 1.15, 1.20 Lidge's best BAA: 0.174, 0.202, 0.219 Lidge's best K/IP: 1.67, 1.47, 1.38 Valverde's best ERAs: 2.15, 2.44, 2.66 Valverde's best WHIPs: 0.99, 1.07, 1.12 Valverde's best BAA: 0.137, 0.196, 0.211 Valverde's best K/IP: 1.42, 1.40, 1.22 Valverde was just as dominant a pitcher as Lidge when they are each at their best. Lidge got more K's and Valverde had better BAA's. ERAs and WHIPs were virtually a wash. In what respect is it "not even close"? True. He had 47 saves and 7 blown saves (87% save %). In Lidge's most dominant year (2004), he had 29 saves and 4 blown saves (88% save %). Since when do elite closers struggle in the playoffs? In the 2004 playoffs, Lidge had 3 saves and 1 blown save. In the 2005 playoffs, he had 3 saves, 1 blown save (and 3 losses). I don't think a 75% save percentage is unusual for elite closers in the playoffs.
First of all, out of all three of those years.... Valverde was only the full time closer in one of them (last year). Hell, if you use simple numbers as a comparison, Octavio Dotel was just as dominant as anybody in baseball not named Pedro in 2001-02-03 as a pitcher... however, the comparison was their performance, at their peaks, as closers (which we all know is an entirely different ballgame than being the setup man). I'd like to see Lidge's 2004 broken down to the point where he was named closer (after the Dotel-Beltran trade). IIRC, his numbers went up significantly across the board after he became a 9th inning only pitcher. Also, out of his 4 blown saves in 2004... only 2 of them came when he was the closer (whereas he got only 1 save during that time as a setup man). There is also the fact that not only were his K's better... but he had the best K/9IP ratio in the history of the league at the time. Also, the fact that Lidge's dominance extended from half of 2004, a dominant post-season, then all of 2005 up till that post-season... whereas Valverde has been inconsistent since he was named the full time closer towards the end of 2005 (horrible 2006, good 2007, shaky 2008 thus far) is weighing in on the decision.
