Brad Lidge - rut roh

[Aceshigh7]

Umm, I really don't go in for dick swinging contests or anything. I'm happy we've got Lidge instead of Wagner. If you would have followed the Astros as long as I have, you might understand.

[RunDownHouse]

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I guess you would have to agree that Clemens deserved the Cy Young more than Carpenter did last year no?

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I'm entirely unsurprised that an Astros fan would be unable to differentiate between a gap of one point or so and a gap of seven points. You people are honestly some of the stupidest fans in sports, completely blinded towards anything that doesn't totally favor the Astros.

EDIT: can't call someone stupid and have a spelling error in the same sentence.

[Hack]

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Umm, I really don't go in for dick swinging contests or anything. I'm happy we've got Lidge instead of Wagner. If you would have followed the Astros as long as I have, you might understand.

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No, no, Berkie, see it don't work that way. You're the one who started it first and the funniest part is that I'm not even a Mets or Phillies fan! I just hate seeing some homer like you rip on a pitcher and claim that another guy is better when he really isn't. RunDownHouse is right, you Astros fans really are blind.

[Dynasty]

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Not a great start given how dominant he's been in recent years. Nomar last night and blew another one tonight. His last 5 games have not been up to par at all and his season ERA is basically 7 now.

One has to wonder how much last year's postseason is affecting him. Between the horrific World Series and Pujols' moon shot it's not out of the realm that he could be damaged goods.




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This was discussed in last year's NLCS thread. At the time, I thought the homer wouldn't be so bad as long as the Astros still made it to the World Series. But, it's always hard to tell how that kind of psychological blow will be handled by any particular player.

Last year's NLCS thread.

By the way, I linked to the post where I called the homer just seconds before it happened. Too bad I spelled "hire" wrong.

[wisehandpoker]

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I think many of us called it then....that moon shot blew apart his confidence. If he can ever regain that is a big question. He has the skills, but it's about much more.

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God bless Mitch Williams. Go Jays!

Not sure there's any merit in this. Donnie Moore was phenomenal in 1987. Dennis Eckersley was phenomenal in 1989. Byung-Hyun Kim was phenomenal in 2002. Any other relatively recent backbreaking HR's allowed by relievers that I'm forgetting about?

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[wisehandpoker]

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ERA is not as important for a reliever as for a starter. ERA's can be inflated by just a couple of bad outings.

If you think that ERA is so important, I guess you would have to agree that Clemens deserved the Cy Young more than Carpenter did last year no?

The only thing that matters is that Lidge has gotten the job done 7 out of 9 times. Wagner has gotten the job done 5 out of 7.

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Sorry Aces, but this is one of the worst arguments I've ever read on this forum. Saves are completely situational, and blown saves are a far better indicator of effectiveness. Additionally, your 'at this stage in his career' arguments are irrelevent because Wagner's gone on to do so much more than any statistical prediction would suggest Lidge will do, mainly because closers don't last as long as Wagner has.

Also for the record, I'd have given Clemens the Cy last year, Johnson the year before.

[Aceshigh7]

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Umm, I really don't go in for dick swinging contests or anything. I'm happy we've got Lidge instead of Wagner. If you would have followed the Astros as long as I have, you might understand.

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No, no, Berkie, see it don't work that way. You're the one who started it first and the funniest part is that I'm not even a Mets or Phillies fan! I just hate seeing some homer like you rip on a pitcher and claim that another guy is better when he really isn't. RunDownHouse is right, you Astros fans really are blind.

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I started it? Excuse me? Who brought up Wagner? It certainly wasn't me. I didn't rip on Wagner at all. He's a good closer. But Lidge is better. You have you're own opinion and that's fine. You're allowed to be wrong.

And I never assumed you to be a Mets or a Phillies fan. It's obvious you're just someone who really doesn't know what you're talking about. I wonder exactly how many games you've actually seen these guys pitch in?

[prohornblower]

Aces,
Remember that game last year down the stretch when Biggio cranked a three-run homer off of Wags to win the game in Philly? That game was cool. I don't think Wagner recovered from that bomb to his good friend, for the duration of 2005. That hit pretty much burried the Phills last year.

I [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Biggio.

[prohornblower]

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prohorn,

This is good work. Well done.

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It just has become blatantly obvious as-of-late. Lidge does not prioritize throwing inside. I don't care who you are, if you are getting 96mph fastballs in on your hands, you aren't going to hit the ball well (See 2005 NLCS Game 6 Oswalt v. Cards). And if you add an 86 mph slider low and away to the mix, your (the batter's) results will be even worse. Even if you turn on it, hehe, you'll pretty much pull it foul everytime.

Andy Fox pointed something out that I didn't bother typing in here, because I didn't think it was as obvious, but I suppose now that it was. (I often forget that there are people in here more knowledgeable about baseball than I [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]) Jeff Kent's sac fly was on a pitch about 4 inches off the plate. He had time to fling his bat out, and get the job done.

NOBODY hits that pitch deep enough to right to get the sac fly, if they have to protect the inside of the plate.

Once he starts doing this, he should get his mentality back into place, which should allow his mechanics to fall back into place. I think his mechanics (walks) are a function of him forcing the issue (See Brett Favre 2005). Once he gets back into the hitters' kitchen, he will not need to force things anymore. I think there is at least a 95% chance he gets back to his old nasty ways.

[TheRover]

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Sorry Aces, but this is one of the worst arguments I've ever read on this forum.

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Get used to this.

BTW, this thread is pure awfulness start to finish.