In all honesty, this move does not surprise me one bit. I’ve said over the past few years that Lidge was overrated. Sure he can throw in the upper 90’s but he has problems placing it. You can throw the ball 100mph, but if you can’t place it you’ll be walking too many or getting the ball smoked right back at you.

Lidge was always at the bottom of the list when up as a reliever. When the ‘Stros had Wagner, Dotel, and Lidge, you knew if you were down in the 7th inning, you could pretty much guarantee you were going to be losing the game. Wagner has since left to close for the Mets, where he is still successful. Dotel closed after he left, and was successful, and eventually left and has battle injuries ever since.

This just leaves Brad Lidge to handle all of the closing duties, of which he had one good full season closing. Last year his ERA was FAR too high to be a legitimate closer for a playoff caliber team. Perhaps he took his role for granted and how he’s suffering the consequences. He’s saying he is using the demotion as motivation, which makes sense, but a lot of players say that.

If anything this is more of a wakeup call. Even if you’re coming in a non-save situation, you need to treat it like one. Giving five runs in two-thirds of an inning is totally inexcusable for any pitcher in the Majors. There has been some teams talking to the Astros seeing if Lidge is available, including the Devil Rays. I’m thinking that Lidge would be a better setup guy than a closer anyway.