A lot to talk about today — Myers, Gordon, post-Pirates, pre-West Coast — but the big story was buried a little in the gameday discussions. Brad Lidge’s shoulder is a little tender. This could be huge.
It was revealed Lidge has stiffness, soreness and inflammation in his right shoulder. According to the team, it’s nothing to get worked up about and if anything, sitting him Saturday and Sunday was a precautionary thing. Lidge said he was feeling better Sunday, too.
But we all know the Phillies and their medical history. We all know that usually when soreness or inflammation is introduced, it leads pretty quickly to a 15-day DL stint. And the Phils cannot lose Lidge for 15 days, let alone three.
Charlie Manuel rested some blame on Clint Hurdle’s overworking of Lidge’s arm during the marathon All-Star Game:
“He wasn’t geared to throw that many damn pitches.”
I agree that Lidge should never have been throwing that much; Lidge is used to throwing, at max, 30 pitches, not more than 60, or 80, or 100.
There is no indication that Lidge has been overworked this season (his 51 games and 49.1 innings are closely in line with his career average of 67 games and 71 innings per season), and he has no recent shoulder history, so we shouldn’t be too concerned.
But be watchful. The last thing this team needs is a Lidge DL stint.
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