Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel replaced Brad Lidge with Ryan Madson once before as the team's closer, but that was due to a Lidge injury. Now Lidge may be losing his job due to poor pitching.On Tuesday night Lidge gave up a hit, walked one, let loose a wild pitch and hit a batter in the ninth inning while only recording one out. Manuel hopped out of the dugout and took the ball from Lidge, giving it to Madson with the bases loaded. Madson recorded his fifth save as he retired the next two batters, striking out one and ending the game with a ground ball to shortstop.
Manuel said later that he had no idea who would be the Phillies closer moving forward. He was only trying to win games.
Lidge has 28 saves on the season but those are marred by a 7.11 ERA and a league leading ten blown saves. Madson, on the other hand, has a 3.15 ERA, has thrown more innings and seems to be the safer option for the Phillies in the ninth.
Madson is only owned in 19% of fantasy baseball leagues and is an excellent waiver wire pick up right now for speculative saves.
Timing is the Key
Fernando Rodney was slapped with a three game suspension after he followed through on the brilliant idea of throwing a baseball into the press box in Tampa. The Tigers have appealed the suspension and Rodney is now active and available to pitch until the team drops the appeal of he wins in the appeal process (not likely). The Tigers play 13 of their last 16 games against teams chasing them in the divisional race. Prior to that, next week in fact, the team hosts a three-game home stand against the Royals. That might be a perfect time for Rodney to drop his appeal so he's available for the final stretch run.
On Shaky Ground
Leo Nunez recorded his 19th save of the season on Tuesday, but there is still buzz around the Marlins community that his job isn't safe. Nunez sports a 4.18 ERA and has blown two saves already in September, both because of his propensity to give up the long-ball. In fact, he shares the league lead in home runs allowed by a relief pitcher. The fact that he was given the ball in the ninth inning on Tuesday leads me to think he'll keep his job for the remainder of the season as long as he keeps the hiccups to a minimum. Going into next season though, the closer role may be up for grabs in Florida.
A Very Pleasant Surprise
Huston Street is slowly making his way back from biceps tendinitis. With the way Franklin Morales is pitching the Rockies have the luxury of letting Street take his time. Since Street wet down with the injury, Morales has appeared in five games and has five saves to show for his efforts. In those five games Morales has six strikeouts in five innings and has only given up three hits and zero earned runs.
