Good thing that Charlie Manuel doesn’t share the same level of impatience and lack of perspective that many Phillies fans have in regard to Phillies closer Brad Lidge.

“He should be placed on the DL, even if he isn’t hurt!”
“He should be dropped to the 7th inning!” (because apparently runs in the 7th inning don’t count as much as they do in the 9th inning)
“He should be dropped to the 8th inning because Madson is the man and should be the closer!”
“I can’t believe they gave him $37 million. Jesus Christ, what were they thinking?”
“Lidge sucks.”

And on. And on. And on.

Charlie Manuel is dead on accurate regarding demoting Lidge:

“Right now, I’m not even going to talk about that,” Manuel said of the Lidge situation before last night’s 5-3 loss to the Florida Marlins. “I want Lidge to feel we have all the confidence in the world in him, because we do.

“He’s my guy. Of course, people are going to want to voice their opinion, say sit him down.

“What is sitting going to do for him? He’s still got to simulate. He’s got to pitch and get somebody out. I think what’s going to right [Lidge] is to go out there and have a good inning. He does that a couple of games in a row, and you’ll see a big difference. Once he gets command, he’ll be off to the races.”

Perhaps the best argument against these knee jerk reactions comes from the usually negative Phil Sheridan of the Inquirer, regarding both Lidge and Moyer’s recent struggles:

If 2008 didn’t teach us to have some perspective, to ride out the occasional rough patch, then nothing will.

After 43 games last season, the Phillies had exactly the same record (24-19) as they have today. That doesn’t mean the next five months will automatically be as wonderful as 2008, but it is reasonable to have at least a little faith in the judgment of the manager whose hand was on the rudder for that fabulous ride.

You don’t manage a major-league team as if it were playing 162 Game 7s. You manage games, people, situations with an eye on the full season. Manuel hears the rumblings that he should make changes, and he ponders the same moves we all do.

Then he does what he thinks is best. In the case of Lidge, that means doing nothing at all. Not now.

The first line of that quote says it all – “If 2008 didn’t teach us to have some perspective, to ride out the occasional rough patch, then nothing will.” In a 162 game season, Phillies fans, above all, should be able to ride out a key player’s slump without jumping ship on them. Brad Lidge has pitched in the most high pressured situation that baseball can offer – 9th inning. World Series clinching game. Man on second. 2 out.

Mr. Lidge has proven that he can handle the pressure. He may be searching for some lost control via issues with his mechanics, but this does not look like a beaten man. And his soundbites after the 2 blown saves in New York over the weekend are not coming from some aimless closer. Saturday was bad, for sure. Sunday was better, but still gets a “BS” in the box score.

Until Brad locates his fastball better, he is going to continue to walk hitters and his slider is not going to be as effective.

Lidge, to his credit, has addressed his issues head on like a professional:

I think sometimes you can second guess when certain things aren’t working,” Lidge said. “Am I throwing too many sliders or I need to do this or that. That’s why today I said, ‘Put your finger down and I’m going to throw it.’ I did and I got it to where I wanted to, and that was a real good feeling. To be honest, this might be one of the first games this year where I felt like every fastball I threw went where I wanted. I haven’t had that kind of command this year.”

Brad Lidge is going to be fine, folks. And he isn’t going anywhere, anyway. Not just because he has a $37 million contract. Had this slump occurred this time last year, I believe that Charlie would still be sticking with him.

Because that’s what you do for one of your studs who is going through a bad spell. You stick with him. You show him that you have faith in his ability to turn it around. You focus on bright spots like his velocity and you build on the positives.

You don’t chuck him from his post and give it to someone else, hoping that he’ll somehow figure it all out during another inning of the game.