Inevitably, anybody who's dominant over a long stretch at ANYTHING that is inconquerable (namely, baseball) will develop bad habits. This becomes even more important when you talk about mechanics to execute an unhittbale pitch. Its also comparable to anybody's golf swing... why must Tiger dissect and re-dissect his swing after several bouts of success? In addition, you had Lidge having success without having to execute his slider to perfection. Batters get themselves out all the time, and it was simply magnified when the aura of Lidge started to spread around the major leagues... I would venture to guess he's thrown the "good" slider less than 20% of the time since 2005, whereas it was closer to 70% from 03 till 04. The amount of K's he was getting on TERRIBLE pitches in 05 just speaks volumes to how psyched out batters were by the mere presence of him. I wouldn't say he got lazy... because there was perceivably no problem to correct. When you're going good, you're going good... you stop working on the little things, and you try to stick with "what's working." Additionally, once he became closer, it likely changed his entire workout routine... you can't throw as much on the side anymore (since you need to basically be available every game). Once again... this wasn't something that happened overnight... it took a good year and a half before Lidge's mechanics crumbled to the point to where he could not throw the good slider anymore. The mental fallout from the post-season failures certainly didn't help anything, along with the commitments to the WBC, and then everybody chiming in with different radical suggestions on how to "fix" Lidge. For the first time in all of the drama since 05, I finally feel confident in the solution... get him as much work as possible to where he can throw that pitch consistently/successfully, and work him back into the closers role. Of course, its easier said than done... if he can't throw the good slider anymore, he's nothing special (and shouldn't be treated as so). If he can, he can be dominant again.
I'm still mad at Garner for making him throw his fastball more in order to work off of that. Lidge throwing more fastballs + Hitters laying off sliders + Hitters sitting dead red = Lit up Lidge
A lot of what was attempted were "quick fix" solutions... nothing really has addressed the fundamental problem of why he can't execute the slider like he used to throw it.
so when is enough enough with Lidge? When do we send him down to AAA or trade him? When do we attempt to start him or at least be the bat boy? He's done. Gone. Leaves fastballs right in the middle of the plate. Probably at least 1 out of every 10 pitches. Hell, that's the book players have on him, just swing for the fences and within a few batters you've got a long home run.
On Baseball tonight, on of the guys just said ...about Lidge. "I got an email from Brad Ausmus this week about Brad Lidge, and he says it is just a matter of confidence, that his stuff is still nasty" Send him to a shrink....... DD
No doubt his stuff is still nasty... its just a question of whether or not he's able to throw it on a given day. He's never had to be a perfectionist... his location/stuff has always come natural to him. Well guess what... its not there anymore. You have to work on it. If you can't get it back, you're not that special. If you can't thorw that slider anymore that batters are feeble against, you're not that good of a pitcher.
I wonder what the Astros' strategy for Lidge is going forward--if he doens't improve. Is it AAA, or trade, or something else? Never; that's just stupid.
Actually, it's not stupid and I really don't enjoy being called stupid. He came up as a promising starter. Had arm trouble and we converted him. He's still young and if we refuse to trade him, giving him a shot as a starter could be beneficial. Of course, that would have to start in AAA. Oh and Roger Clemens even suggested this, so I guess he's stupid too.
Lidge isn't *that* young. 30 is kinda late to convert to a starter. And either Garner or Purpura (I think Purpura) laughed at Roger's idea.
guys making 5 mil. too damn much for a mediocre middle reliever. if you refuse to trade him, you have to think outside the box.
If he is claimed off of waivers, can't the Astros pull him back? And doesn't his salary transfer to another team? If they can't trade him, it might not be a bad option. DD
Does anyone have video of the Pujols homer? Edit: mms://a1503.v108692.c10869.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/1503/10869/v0001/mlb.download.akamai.com/10869/2005/open/topplays/archive10/05nlcs_gm5_slnhou_pujols_3runhr_350.wmv?ct3=-1&ct4=mlb&ct5=21-Apr-07
The guy only has two pitches. You can get away with it as a reliever but not as a starter, not when you have to go through the lineup 3 or 4 times. He'd have to add a change or a curve or something like that. He tried, unsuccessfully, to add a 2 seam fastball this year and he's already abandoned that pitch. I could see that if he had to pitch 5 or 6 innings, it would force him to not overthrow. But he'd need to work on his repertoire to make the switch and it's unlikely that he's going to add pitches mid-season. IF he made the switch, and I seriously doubt that would ever happen, he'd have to prepare for it in the offseason.
I'm not saying that he's a slam dunk as a starter. I personally think he's damaged goods with poor location and a propensity to leave the ball over the middle of the plate. A very poor combination for a guy in the majors period, much less a closer. Chances are, he'd be as bad a starter as he is a middle reliever, but you have to do something. I am for trading him. The team and management are on record as saying they won't. Well, if you won't trade him, can't use him in his designed roll, then why are you paying him 5 mill? Better question, is there any way to possibly get value out of him? Only possibility I see is trying him as a starter.
