Dissecting Lidge

Watching end of Phils game with Lidge pitching with one out in the bag, and facing Furcal. I know this probably doesn't end well because I know it goes into extra innings, and I heard some car honking so I'm guessing Dodgers won it in OT.

But here comes Furcal, career 0-9 against Lidge with 5 Ks, hitting .239 on the year. And here is the pitch selection, one out nobody on:

1) Fastball, low outside, BALL. Furcal trying to bunt. Probably the one pitch that is un-buntable. 1-0.

2) Fastball, inside. BALL, but Furcal swings and laces it foul. 1-1.

3) Curveball, inside. BALL, but Furcal mysteriously still trying to bunt and pops it up into his own dugout. 1-2.

4) Slider, in the dirt. BALL. Not deceptive -- Furcal lays off. 2-2.

5) Curveball, inside. STRIKE. Furcal puts it in the seats.

I mean the Phillies manage to turn an already light-hitting guy who's been sitting cold on the bench all night, and after an at-bat in which he seems spectacularly overmatched, with no history of success against Lidge, gets the one pitch he can handle. And while I blame Lidge most because that pitch hung even though it was low, when I look at the overall AB, I wonder if perhaps Coste should share some blame.

I am going to look at how Lidge does with Ruiz vs Coste, but IMO, Furcal was lost up there, as he has been his entire career against Lidge, and they serve him up a game-tying dinger.

When you compare Lidge with Madson who pitched the previous inning -- they know when Madson's fastball is coming and they just can't hit it. Lidge's fastball isn't fooling anyone, and now the next shoe to drop is when they not only don't fear his fastball, but can still stay with the off speed stuff he manages to throw it for strikes. Funny how quickly the balance tips.

I'm with Charlie for continuing to deploy the 7-8-9th inning relievers as he has so far. Don't waver on strategy and hope the blue chips come along. He's dealt with this with Rollins before as again with this year. Meanwhile, Victorino isn't really convincing me he should be the lead off guy either, as was the case last year. Similarly, Burrell, Howard, Thome all went thru long rough stretches. But the phils are best off if Lidge can close confidently, and leave the set up to Madson/Romero/Durbin/Condrey.

Same for Rollins being lead off hitter. If I were Charlie, I'd have a little talk with Rollins. Say, I've been patient. You've proved me wrong in the past. But I need my lead off hitter and perhaps best base stealer on base when the Utley-Howard-Ibanez buzz saw gets grinding. And so I would almost set up a quota system for him that demands he take some walks. It's a joke anytime Manuel bats Utley behind Rollins. Rollins swings at anything and Utley patiently works the count with no one on and at least one more out. Here's how I would administer the quotas:

Walks: Min 4 per week. This is a huge change from his historical -- he's averaging about 1 walk per 4 games, or one every 20 ABs. Huge bonus for more than 1 BB in any game.

Steals: Huge bonus for any steals after a BB.

Pop-up: Huge penalty, esp if it occurs when ahead in the count.

HR: Medium penalty. We don't want/need him hitting HRs. We need his on-base pct and steals up. While he's still leading the team, it's instructive to note he's tied with Werth, who's also not hitting great, but walks more than twice as often as Rollins, and as a result, has scored more and produced more runs.