210sa
Web Posted: 09/12/2009 12:11 CDT

Fantasy baseball: Will lights stay out for Lidge?

read
comments

(0)

RSS | EMAIL | PRINT | SAVE
By David Kendrick - 210SA Contributor

When it comes to a heartbreaker, Astros fans are well aware of the anguish Brad Lidge can bring you. After pitching lights out for Houston during the team’s 2005 playoff run — hence the nickname “Lights Out” Lidge — he hit a wall named Albert Pujols. A homer he gave up to the Cardinals slugger in the NLCS was thought to be a mental block that caused him to spin out of control his next two seasons there. He was in and out of the closer’s role and eventually traded before the 2008 season.

 

Philadelphia landed him and he was lights out again for the World Series champions, converting all 41 of his save opportunities while posting a 1.95 ERA. This season, though, he’s again struggling. He has blown 10 saves and Ryan Madson has been closing games for Philadelphia. While manager Charlie Manuel isn’t saying Lidge is out as his closer, it certainly appears for fantasy owners that the light is out and the party is over.

Three Up

1. Scott Feldman, Rangers SP: Believe it or not, there’s actually a Cy Young candidate in Arlington. The right-hander is 16-4 with a 3.46 ERA and after shutting down the Indians on Wednesday, Sept. 9, he’s 4-0 with a 0.34 ERA over his last four starts.

2. Neftali Feliz, Rangers P: Not to be outdone, Feliz recently recorded his first major-league win. While he has yet to start for the Rangers, the 21-year-old right-hander boasts a 100-plus MPH fastball. In the win against Cleveland, Feliz gave up his first run in 2061/3 innings — a solo Travis Hafner homer.

3. Robinson Tejeda, Royals: While he was never a big hit when he was with the Rangers, Tejeda is giving opportunistic fantasy owners a boost down the stretch. He hasn’t given up a run in 19 innings and is now in the rotation.

Three Down

1. Jose Contreras, Rockies SP: The former White Sox pitcher wasn’t a great option as a starter in Colorado, but for owners who are seeking wins at any cost — definitely possible if you’re not going to catch anyone in ERA or WHIP — then his recent quadriceps injury is a big problem.

2. Grady Sizemore, Indians OF: His rough season mercifully came to an end recently when the team shut him down. He had surgery Wednesday on his left elbow and next week will have surgery on his groin. Keeper league owners will have a tough call to make on Sizemore, who ended up with 18 homers, 64 RBIs and 13 stolen bases. When he’s healthy, he’s arguably the top fantasy outfielder, but his health obviously wasn’t there this season.

3. B.J. Upton, Rays OF: Speaking of players whose health wasn’t there this season, Upton is battling an ankle injury. He says he wants to play again this season, but given that Tampa Bay is out of the playoff hunt, you have to wonder if that will happen.

Comments

0 comment(s) on "Fantasy baseball: Will lights stay out for Lidge?"
Readers are solely responsible for the content of the comments they post here. Comments are subject to the site's terms and conditions of use and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or approval of mySA.com. Readers whose comments violate the terms of use may have their comments removed or all of their content blocked from viewing by other users without notification.