Skip to main content

Lidge Rehab Complete as Lakewood Downs Greenville

By
Brad Lidge, in what was slated to be his final rehab appearance in the minors before the Phillies activate him to the MLB roster, tossed a 1-2-3 inning for the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws against the Greenville Drive (Red Sox affiliate) on Wednesday afternoon.

In a scoreless 8th inning, it took Lidge 10 pitches to retire all three batters he faced. He induced a ground out from lead-off batter Wilfred Pichardo, struck out speedster Felix Sanchez with a slider and got Philadelphia area product Sean Coyle to ground out as well.

Unfortunately for Lidge, who has been clear about his desire to add some velocity before he makes his big league return, his fastball again peaked at 88 MPH on Wednesday, which is where it has been since early in this rehab process.

Following the outing, Lidge expressed his relief regarding being finished with the recovery from his shoulder and elbow strains as well as some excitement about rejoining his teammates in Philadelphia.

"It's crazy. It's hard to even describe," Lidge said. "Being out for (this) entire year, going up and down the minor league system, just about every spot, trying to work your way back. I'm more than ready and it'll be nice to be with the guys again."

Lidge worked back to back days for Reading over the weekend, throwing 2 scoreless innings in 2 appearances, Saturday and Sunday. The 34-year-old right-hander said he felt fine on Monday, as though he could have pitched a third straight game.

Expecting to be activated to the Phillies roster on Friday, Lidge closed out his time in the minors with a sigh and a laugh, stating, "Everything feels good...finally!"

In the contest, the two-time defending South Atlantic League Champion BlueClaws got a terrific starting effort from right-hander David Buchanan, who took a shutout into the 7th inning. In a rematch against the team they've defeated to clinch the championship in each of the past two years, Lakewood won the series opener against Greenville, 8-2.

On the day, the 22-year-old Buchanan allowed 2 hits and 2 earned runs, while striking out 7 and walking 2 over 7 strong innings. The win for the SAL All-star Buchanan, his 10th, leads the SAL.

Catcher Cameron Rupp sparked the offense, going 3-for-3 with 3 runs driven in for Lakewood. The 2010 3rd round draft pick, Rupp, has been hot at the plate in July, posting a .407 average in 14 games.

The BlueClaws will continue their three-game series with the Drive on Thursday when last year's top Phillies draft selection, LHP Jesse Biddle (5-6, 3.10) takes on Greenville RHP Scott Swinson (2-2, 2.44 ERA). Game time is 7:05PM.

____________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

You can also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IronPigs Quotables: JD Hammer interview excerpts

By
JD Hammer, image- Cheryl Pursell HELP SUPPORT CONTENT LIKE THIS AND KEEP IT COMING ALL YEAR LONG BY BECOMING A PATRON!  Get early access to my posts plus EXCLUSIVE interviews & other content- https://www.patreon.com/phoulballz Recently I published a feature on reliever J.D. Hammer , who spent some time with the big league Phillies before returning to the minors with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In the piece, Hammer and the IronPigs' coaching staff speak about the righty pitcher's current path and what he's focused on to return to the majors. During my time chatting with the talented prospect he spoke on some topics that didn't make the cut in the feature.  Topics included the variance in the baseball at the upper levels, the IronPigs' catchers and more.  Read ahead for those interview excerpts. I asked Hammer about the difference in the baseball from the lower levels of the minors to Triple-A and the majors.  The variance in the balls is said to take
Post a Comment
Read more

2019 Phillies Prospects Countdown: #7 LHP JoJo Romero

By
JoJo Romero, image- Jay Floyd With a growing crop of very talented pitching prospects in the Phillies organization, left-hander JoJo Romero is certainly among the standouts. The five-foot-11 200-pounder was the Phils’ 4th round draft selection in 2016. That year he helped Yavapai College, the same school that the Phillies drafted Kenny Giles from in 2011, clinch the JuCo World Series, leading the way with an 11-5 record, a 3.64 ERA and a 10.2 K/9 mark. He also tossed a complete game gem to earn the win in their title game. After signing with the Phillies, Romero made his professional debut as a member of the short-season Class A Williamsport Crosscutters. There, he notched a 2-2 record with a 2.56 ERA while striking out 31 and walking 11 in 45 2/3 innings. In 2017, he got off to a terrific start with the Class A Lakewood BlueClaws. In 13 starts, Romero tallied a 5-1 record with a 2.11 ERA and a 9.3 K/9 mark and was honored as a South Atlantic League mid-season All-Star. R
Post a Comment
Read more

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

By
Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against.   The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball wi
Post a Comment
Read more