The Phillies’ biggest acquisition of the off-season, closer Brad Lidge, limped off of the mound with a reinjured knee of his push off leg after tossing one pitch in Saturday’s batting practice.

Initially, it was hoped that the injury was just a case of scar tissue pulled loose.

By Sunday, Lidge was diagnosed as needing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee which was successfully completed today.  He had previous surgery in October, 2007 where doctors removed torn cartilage from the same knee.

The probable prognosis after the surgery is that he’d be sidelined for three to six weeks.  He is, at best, doubtful for a March 31st opener with the Washington Nationals. 

Frankly, there a few puzzlements in this entire incident.

What was his rehab regiment after the October surgery?  Was he sufficiently rehabilitated?  How is it that a caught spike on his first pitch causes this extent of damage?

Philly.com reported on February 12 regarding Lidge’s earlier surgery and rehab;

The reliever, a righty, had surgery to repair torn cartilage in early October. Midway through last season, a biting pain developed in the knee he uses to push off the mound while delivering to the plate. An MRI revealed that the cartilage had torn in two and fallen out of place.

Nevertheless, Lidge pitched his best after the injury developed, converting 19 of the 24 save opportunities he had after spending a month on the DL from mid-June to mid-July.

Speaking in the clubhouse after working out yesterday morning, Lidge deemed the knee ready to go. He has been throwing off the mound since January. If the season started today, he said, he would be healthy enough to pitch.

This report was written nearly a month after the Phillies announced Lidge’s signing of a 1 year deal worth $6.35 million, a $1 million raise over last season.

Are we to believe that there is no rehab necessary after this latest knee surgery?  Frankly, despite the predictable Phillies minimization of the injury and projected three to six week recovery time, the reality of things seems to be, don’t look for Lidge before at least May 1.  How can anyone project that Lidge could be ready by Opening Day 4 1/2 weeks from now?

Why was Brett Myers rushed back into the starting rotation?  This blog commented on that very point with concern about the status of the knee in its report on the trade for Lidge back in November.

Are there flaws in pitching coach Rich Dubee’s training and exercise regiments or his coaching?  I have wondered this since last season when two starting pitchers (excluding Freddy Garcia — damaged goods from jumpstreet) plus Ryan Madson, Myers, Tom Gordon and Scott Mathieson (2006) all went down.

Or are there severe, dangerous flaws on the mound in Clearwater which the Phils have as yet not rectified? Or could it be both of the above?

And so, Heaven help them; Gordon’s projected as Opening Day closer with Myers back in the starting rotation.

Take me back to the days of Robin Roberts, Warren Spahn, Early Wynn  Tom Seaver, Jim Bunning, Nolan Ryan or “Lefty” Steve Carlton, all of whom kept pitching and pitching, completing a high percentage of games and never, ever going down with arm, shoulder or knee woes.

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While the nation focuses on the congressional hearings on the Mitchell report regarding who took steroids, HGH etc., or rather “Rocket” Roger Clemens — did he or didn’t he(?), this blog remains focused on baseball purism.

As I have stated in the past, this blog is not about the sensationalism of the paparazzi coverage of the entire steroids, HGH and sports issue.  This blog is about baseball — all baseball, all the time.

As such, this blog’s focus remains on such topics as the impact of Curt Schilling’s latest shoulder injury on his 2008 season, contract and career, the Phillies’ signing of Kris Benson, a Tommy John surgery recipient trying to resurrect his pitching career, the countdown to Ryan Howard’s arbitration salary hearing or Chicago Cubs’ closer Ryan Dempster’s 2008 Cubs in  World Series prediction. This blog will address all of these topics topics and more as anticipation heats up for the 2008 season as Thursday, February 14 marked Spring Training’s first voluntary report date.

Curt Schilling has been one of my all-time favorites since he burst onto the Phillies’ scene in 1992 after the Houston Astros traded him in exchange for the erratic and mediocre Jason Grimsley who didn’t even make the Astros and ended up with the Cleveland Indians in 1993 through the 1997 season amidst a journeyman career which ended in 2006 after spanning 15 seasons and 7 teams.

Meantime, Schilling went 14-11 for the 70-92 Phillies of 1992 and finished 16-7 in leading the 1993 Phils to the NL Pennant and to playing the Toronto Blue Jays in the forgettable Mitch Williams, Joe Carter 1993 World Series.

The 1994, 95 and 96 seasons were injury-marred and abbreviated off-years for Schilling although he did return to form going 17-11 in 1997, 15-14 in 1998 and 15-6 in 1999 with the Phillies before being traded to Arizona in mid-2000.  I’ve been a Schilling fan since, irrespective of whether he was with the Diamondbacks (2000-2003 including 2001 World Championship) or with the Boston Red Sox (2004-present including World Championships in 2004, 2007).

I was happy to see “The Schill” nail down his 200th win back in May, 2006 enroute to a 15-7 record, during this blog’s inaugural season.  Unfortunately, shoulder woes and assorted other injuries caused him to miss part of that 2006 season as well as most of last season, although he performed in typical Schilling style with the money on the line in the post-season, going 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA in four postseason starts, improving his career playoff and World Series record to 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA.

But the big question, the $10 million question — will Schilling pitch in 2008, or is his career at an end?

AP sports writer Howard Ulman reports for Yahoo sports;

While the precise nature of Schilling’s injury is not known, it is believed that the right-hander is suffering from an injury to the rotator cuff and/or labrum that might require surgery. It is possible that the sides disagree on how to treat Schilling’s ailment…

If Schilling has surgery on his shoulder, it is almost certain that he would be unable to pitch this season.

Presumably, Schilling underwent a physical exam when the Red Sox signed him to his guaranteed contract in November. It is unclear whether Schilling’s current problem was overlooked at the time or if he suffered the injury at a later date.

Schilling did not pitch between June 18 and Aug. 6 of last season when he was on the disabled list with a right shoulder ailment. At the time, the problems were believed to be related to tendinitis and general fatigue.

Privately, club officials believed that some of Schilling’s difficulties early last season resulted from him showing up in poor condition at spring training. Schilling’s new contract includes incentive clauses for the pitcher meeting specified weight requirements at various checkpoints through the season.

Schilling comments on the current injury on his “38 pitches” blog;

At the time we negotiated the 2008 contract I passed all physical exams and testing, as well as the MRI the club required me to take. I knew in my heart of hearts that the extra time I was giving my arm to rest this winter would in fact be the cure for what I went through the entire 2007 season. I had a strong desire to not have to go through multiple cortisone injections in my shoulder for another year.  There was absolutely no reason for anyone involved to believe I would be anything other than completely healthy and ready for the 2008 baseball season.

Things have changed since then and I contacted the team early last month with concerns and we’ve been working diligently to resolve them.

There have been disagreements these past few weeks in an effort to provide me with a solution that would allow me to pitch as much as possible during the 2008 season. At no time did I ever consider taking a course of action against the clubs wishes. In the end, regardless of who agreed with whom, I have chosen the clubs course of action and will vigorously pursue any and every option I can to be able to help this team to another World Series title in 2008.

I have agreed to abide with the clubs wishes in hopes that will provide the results they believe it will.

To Curt Schilling, best wishes for a return to form, a successful 2008 season, and a 2008 World Series date with the Phillies.

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Well the big news of the weekend in baseball is that the Mets came to agreement on a long-term contract with star lefthander Johan Santana, thus finalizing their deal with the Minnesota Twins.

Santana and the Mets inked a $137.5 million, six-year contract on Friday evening followed by Santana’s passing his physical on Saturday,  completing the four for one deal which sent the Twins four top prospects.

AP Baseball Writer Mike Fitzpatrick managed to obtain, in broad terms, an early analysis of the dollars-side of the deal for Yahoo sports;

Terms of the agreement were disclosed by a baseball official with knowledge of the talks who spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made. The deal includes deferred money and a club option for 2014 with a $5.5 million buyout that could make the contract worth about $150 million over seven seasons. Depending on Santana’s performance, the option could become guaranteed.

On Saturday, MLB.com’s Charlie Noble reported a more comprehensive look at the dollars year-by-year on a deal which could mushroom, according to New York Times’ Ben Shpigel,  to as much as $157 million if Santana meets the criteria for a “player’s option” to vest.

Santana sports a career record spanning over 8 seasons of 93-44, including a 20-6 mark in 2004 and a 19-6 record in 2006, with a lifetime ERA of 3.22 having never walked more than 54 hitters in a season while averaging over 200 innings and striking out over 230 hitters in each of his last 4 seasons.  In 2007, having had a somewhat off-year, his homer count jumped to 33 vs 22-24 in the previous 3 seasons and his ERA leaped to 3.33 from the mid-2.70s -2.80s in the previous seasons.

I find both fascinating, and hopeful for the Phillies, the reactions of former Met Tom Glavine, now with the Atlanta Braves, as well as others regarding the deal.

MLB.com’s Marty Noble reports Glavine’s take on the deal;

“Obviously, this is a huge lift for them,” Glavine said. “The guy is arguably the best pitcher in the game right now. They have every reason to be excited about that and optimistic about their season, but so do we. I think we addressed our needs really well, and I think we all feel good about our chances.

“When Randy Johnson went to the Yankees … everybody was ready to hand them the World Series trophy, and it never happened. That’s why you play the games. You just don’t know what’s going to happen.”

APs’ Fitzpatrick reported these comments;

“He’s good but he’s not unbeatable. He got hit around last year,” said pitcher Tim Hudson of the Atlanta Braves, one of the Mets’ chief rivals in the NL East along with Philadelphia. “We’ve just got to be concerned about ourselves. We can’t be consumed by what anyone else does.”

Finally, ESPN’s Jayson Stark provides the enlightening take of one unnamed GM on the deal and on the Mets in general;

We polled 12 front-office types this week on whether they thought the Phillies or post-Johan Mets would win the NL East. Ten of them took the Mets. But one who didn’t, an NL executive, was adamant that the Phillies have an energy and a personality the Mets lack.

“I’m talking about the way guys like (Jimmy) Rollins and  (Chase) Utley and (Shane) Victorino play,” he said. “Guys like that find ways to grind out wins. The Mets don’t have those kinds of guys. Both those teams had a lot of guys who got hurt last year. But after the Mets got hurt, they didn’t play the same way. Chase Utley got hurt and the Phillies kept on coming. To me, that’s because that ‘gamer quotient’ was still there.”

Further, it must be remembered that the Mets, as exemplified by shortstop Jose Reyes, gave up on groundballs by not running them out.
Offensively, they didn’t have what it took down the stretch.  And once one gets past Santana and John Maine, the rest of the rotation is one huge and aging questionmark.   I’ll stick by my Santana, Maine, three days of rain analogy and assert that the Mets will be looking up at the Phillies in 2008 rather than over their shoulders even with Santana’s acquisition.

I would feel even better about the Phillies if they acquired an innings-eating, mid-3s ERA 4th starter behind Hamels, Myers and Kendrick as well as a capable middle reliever.  

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