Brad Lidge Blows His 11th Save

Two days ago, The Good Phight said it was time to pull the plug on Brad Lidge. And for obvious reasons this would seem like a wise decision. Yet Charlie Manuel continues to call Lidge’s number, and Lidge continues to give up runs. Last night, it cost his team the game after he surrendered two in the bottom of the ninth to the Marlins.

Lidge has now given up at least one earned run in his last four outings for a total six ERs in 3 2/3 innings. Wednesday night was his 11th blown save in 42 opportunities. Which, as math tells us, means there’s about a 26% chance the Phillies are going to lose any time Lidge is on the mound in the 9th with a lead of three runs of less. Not exactly the shut-down closer you want in the playoffs.

After the game, Manuel discussed the situation:

“Him and Madson, that’s what we’ve got in the back end of the bullpen right now,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “He’s struggling. At the same time, it’s hard for us to close a game out. It’s tough. It’s kind of what we’ve got. I mean, I’ve got confidence in him. I keep running him out there. Hopefully he does the job. I pull like hell for him every time he goes out there, believe me.” […]

“The bottom line is, when you’re winning going into the ninth, you have to win. The big thing is we’re not closing the game out. When you’re leading going into the eighth and ninth, you’re supposed to win a high percentage of those. I don’t know exactly what the percentage is, but it’s . . . damn high.”

Manuel, not a mathematician, and neither are we, but we’ll assume that “damn high” is above 74%, which is what Lidge is giving the Phillies right now.