Phillies closer Brad Lidge made his final rehab appearance yesterday, and he's set to join the Phillies in Cinci tonight with hopes of being ready to pitch as early as tomorrow. However, Lidge was somewhat less than stellar (although not quite Gordonian) in his inning of work, facing six batters and allowing two hits (one of which went over the fence) and a walk. He did strike out two, which is a good sign that he's ready to miss a few bats when he faces the Reds in their bandbox park.
We try not to make it a habit of reading too much into spring training and tune-up appearances, but this isn't exaclty the domination we were hoping for. We have our doubts about Lidge's ability to be a reliable closer for this team, picturing him waking up at 2am in a cold sweat, watching the Pujols homer sail over his head. Coming to Philadelphia on crutches and requiring a spring training knee scope haven't helped in that regard. But anything is an improvement over what we saw from the back end on opening day, so we'll be glad to see him take the hill in the 9th.
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