Closer-By-Committee
"I just told [Lidge] that we're going to take him out of the closer's role, we're going to work by committee," Garner said after last nights 18 inning loss to the Chicago Cubs
Closer-by-committee is basically something that no ball club wants to do and very few successful teams use. I'd personally just give someone a chance to be the closer instead of doing Closer-by-committee, but I'm not Garner(obviously). I'm assuming this closer-by-committee will be more of a unspecified closer that Garner will turn to more often than others, without naming him the closer. I'm assuming Wheeler will get most of the chances at closer for a while and see how he does but don't be surprised to see Qualls or Springer in there for the 9th inning as well. I doubt Garner will give Borkowski a shot.. I don't know why.. but it just seems like he doesn't trust his 2nd best(ERA wise) reliever. Seems like he's always a last resort. Could just be me though.
Well now Brad has already lost his job twice this season... how many players get a 3rd shot after losing their job twice in a season? Knowing Garner, he'll probably give the spot back to Lidge before the month is up.
Last October, the Astros were down by three games in the World Series and about to lose their fourth at home in Houston...Even with the outlook so bleak, the Astros fans still cheered for their team in the hopes that they could possibly take one game away from the White Cox. After it was all over, Garner was quoted as saying, "I'm going to go say something to the best fans in the world." It's pretty safe to say that true Astros fans are pretty forgiving when it comes to failure.
Last night, Lidge was booed off the field after 2/3s of an inning. When a crowd that can forgive their team for dropping four straight in a World Series boos a player off the field, something needs to be done.
It’s obvious that Garner has a lot of faith in Brad Lidge and there's no doubt that he has a lot of talent hidden in there somewhere. However, Lidge has had every opportunity to prove himself but he seems to fail more often than not. The most important thing for a closer is consistency and Lidge doesn't have it.
One of the Astros’ strongest attributes is that they seem to be very flexible in fixing problems with the team. When the bats aren’t hitting, they find a way to increase the offense by bringing in talent from the farm clubs or picking up a good second half player in Aubrey Huff. When the starting rotation needs a lift, they bring up Jason Hirsch. Why does Lidge keep getting more chances? Sure the bullpen has struggled, but nobody has struggled as much as Lidge. Brad needs to take a seat and work on his consistency during the offseason. Right now, the team is better off with him on the bench.
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The Astros fans have been booing a lot lately.. Ensberg has been getting it a lot... I'm not real big on booing.. it's not like they don't know they screwed up.
I agree they are better with Lidge how he is right now is better on the bench.. but boy would it nice to have the Lidge of old. The Lidge of old would have the Astros leading the Wildcard right now.
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