In his annus mirabilis of 2009, Brad Lidge would usually attribute his struggles on the mound to poor pitching mechanics brought on by his various injuries. This was echoed by pitching coach Rich Dubee. Lidge in no way meant this is an alibi. He is a humble, stand-up, no excuses type of guy. After some of his most horrific outings last season, he faced the music and accepted full responsibility. Because of his admirable character, you can't help rooting for the guy. But there were a number of occasions in '09 when Lidge and Dubee expressed confidence that the mechanical issues had been corrected, whereupon the reliever would go out and blow another save.
Now fast forward to spring training 2010. The right-hander is coming off post-season elbow and knee surgery and once again Lidge and the coaches are convinced that the faulty mechanics are a thing of the past now that the physical issues have been addressed.
Now it entirely reasonable that Brad Lidge's mechanics were indeed disrupted by his physical ailments. But the nagging suspicion here is that a bigger factor in Lidge's ineffectiveness is that batters started laying off his strikeout slider, the one that's way out of the strike zone. How he deals with that is what really may determine whether he can become an elite reliever again.
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