Deep Cleansing Breathes

After I heard that Brad Lidge had reinjured his knee I had a minor meltdown. Even after hearing that the surgery was successful and that he could be back in time for opening day I couldn’t really relax. It’s nearly impossible to get well-informed and accurate information about injuries. I have a few complaints regarding the way that the mainstream media covers sports injuries. Often all we hear is what body part is out of whack and the range of how many weeks or months they will be missing. Sometimes we will get a quote from the player that is almost always so ridiculous optimistic that they sound completely crazy.

All of that explains why I was unable to not worry about Brad Lidge. But after reading this great snippet by Stephania Bell, which was completely buried by ESPN I have been able to relax. Stephania’s bio says that she is a physical therapist who is a Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. In plain English someone who can actually explain what to expect from Lidge. She explains that because doctors only had to remove a small portion of the medial meniscus it is more likely that Lidge will be striking out Mets hitters with his nasty slider sooner rather than later. So finally I can relax and take a few deep cleansing breathes.

Here is the link to her article. It is sort of hidden on the right side. The main article is a pretty decent Phillies season preview. I should also mention Will Carroll who writes an excellent column about injuries called Under the Knife for Baseball Prospectus.

Lidge Out 3-6 Weeks

Phillies closer will require surgery on his knee to repair a torn meniscus. The recovery time in three to six weeks and Lidge is optimistic that he will be ready for opening day.

This whole story is very familiar. Last season the Phillies acquired a star pitcher who had a nagging injury that prevented him from pitching effectively during the season. The story of Brad Lidge appears to be mimicking last season’s drama with the infamous Freddy Garcia. Despite the Phillies history I still believe that Lidge will pitch effectively this season.

Lidge injured himself when his spike got caught in the ground, which is just plain unlucky. I can only hope that the Phillies do nothing to rush him back. He needs to be one hundred percent before the Phillies let him on the field. Anything else is just reckless.

Kyle Kendrick Video

I'm sure everyone has heard about this but I thought I'd post it anyway.

Phils take a look at Benson

The Phillies who have stated time and time again that finding pitching is still a priority. In their effort to find more starting pitching the Phillies have turned to the bargain bin and free agent Kris Benson. I’m very conflicted about Benson. He has had only two good seasons in his seven-year career. Benson’s strike out rate is trending down and his homerun rate is trending up, which suggest that he is a pitcher whose performance will decline. Even worse he missed both the 2001 and 2007 seasons due to injury.

Despite all that Benson could still provide valuable depth. The Phillies have no fifth starter, Kyle Kendrick is unproven, and Jamie Moyer is older than time itself. For all those reasons it couldn’t hurt to sign Benson and either keep him in the minors or use him as a long man in the bullpen.