Phillies closer Brad Lidge is pretty much certain that he’ll miss opening day, according to an article from philly.com (http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillies_zone/Lidge_basically_rules_out_opening_day.html). Lidge pitched in a minor league game against the Blue Jays today, allowing three hits and a run in one inning. Afterwards, he said, “I guess I’m going to hope for the Houston series, because it doesn’t look like I’m going to be ready for the opener.”

It’s unclear exactly what led Lidge to this decision; as recently as a few days ago, the closer was shooting for opening day. Lidge, however, mentioned in the previously cited philly.com article that he was happy with his arm strength, but considers his command–especially of his slider–a work in progress. I can only guess, though, whether Lidge was disappointed in today’s performance or if he was overly optimistic all along. In the meantime, he’s shooting for the second series of the season, a weekend set in Houston. If he’s not ready then, he says he’ll definitely be ready for the home opener on the 12th.

Now, before the Phillies fandom begins to panic, I direct your attention to the beginning of the 2008 season. A certain relief pitcher, recently traded to the Phillies and fresh off arthroscopic knee surgery, was forced to miss the first week of the season. We all know how that ended up. I’m not saying that Lidge will be perfect again, but if Ryan Madson and/or Danys Baez pitch the ninth inning of the first few games of the season, it’s not the end of the world. It’s important to get Lidge off to as good of a start as possible, and pitching him before he’s ready isn’t the answer.

PS: I’m new here. I’ll be doing Phillies and Flyers coverage, along with some Eagles tidbits here or there. Hope you enjoy.