Brad Lidge on a Tight Rope

Brad Lidge's 9th inning appearance yesterday in the playoff opener was uncomfortably similar to his last half dozen or so outings in the regular season - too many pitches, too many walks, falling behind in the count. On the one hand, it's a measure of his toughness, and talent, that he has been able to escape with a save in each case; for the entire year, he has been the Phillies MVP. On the other hand, living on the edge at some point is likely to be costly, particularly since the Phils have such a small margin for error. Their run production is just too unreliable - just ask Cole Hamels. After yesterday's Brewers' game, it was suggested that Milwaukee may have picked up the signs and thus were able to anticipate Lidge's slider. Lidge and Carlos Ruiz were skeptical of this.

Another explanation may be that after watching Lidge all year, hitters are trying to be more patient knowing that his bread and butter pitch is a slider out of the strike zone, virtually unhittable, particularly for a right-handed batter. If they take a few more pitches, they might work a more favorable count, putting a little more pressure on Lidge to throw strikes. How Lidge adjusts to this will be critical to the Phillies' post-season run.