[ThePundit]

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP)—Phillies closer Brad Lidge caught a spike in the mound on his first pitch of batting practice Saturday and hurt the same knee he had surgery on in October.

Lidge, the Phillies’ biggest offseason acquisition, limped off the field after talking with team trainers. The team said it hoped to know more about the extent of the injury Sunday.

“It was my push off leg,” Lidge said. “I caught my spike in the mound. I threw the pitch but it felt like I pulled something in the knee. … It swelled up a little, but I’m optimistic that I just pulled some scar tissue loose.”

Doctors removed torn cartilage from the knee in the fall.

The Phillies acquired Lidge and infielder Eric Bruntlett in a November trade that sent speedy outfielder Michael Bourn, infield prospect Mike Costanzo and reliever Geoff Geary to the Astros.

The 31-year-old Lidge, who has 123 career saves, finished 2007 with 19 saves in 27 chances and a 3.36 ERA for Houston. When the Phillies acquired him, it allowed them to strengthen their rotation by making Brett Myers a starter again.

“We’ll find out more tomorrow,” manager Charlie Manuel said of Lidge’s injury. “We’ll go from there and we’re waiting to see how it feels (Sunday). He was in the stretch and threw one pitch and did it. He threw another and it still hurt him.”

Phillies closer Brad Lidge limps off mound after hurting knee he had surgery on in October - MLB - Yahoo! Sports

The Phillies must be flipping out.

[Lefty Noob]

He caught the spikes in the mound? How the heck does that happen? Was the mound surface muddy, or his spikes too long, or what?

[Phils20]

Man, not a good time to be a Philly fan of any sport. First the Flyers debacle of the last 10 games, now this!

Looks like he will be ready by opening day, but with no spring training, and fresh off surgery, I'm very concerned for Lidge.

Here is the Philly article. Says a lot of the same things as the above link.

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[njpsufan]

Ntg serious. I heard a guy talking today and they said if this was the NFL he would be playing this w/e. Just needs some rest and then start up again. He will be behind a couple weeks.

[ThePundit]

Originally Posted by njpsufan

Ntg serious. I heard a guy talking today and they said if this was the NFL he would be playing this w/e. Just needs some rest and then start up again. He will be behind a couple weeks.

Not quite nothing. He had surgery today. He's expected to miss 3-6 weeks.:

CLEARWATER, FLORIDA (TICKER) —Philadelphia Phillies righthander Brad Lidge had successful surgery on his right knee Monday, according to the team.

Acquired this offseason to serve as the Phillies’ closer, Lidge is expected to miss three to six weeks.

“We went in and cleaned out 15 to 18 percent of it,” Phillies trainer Scott Sheridan told MLB.com. “That leaves him a good 80 percent of the meniscus, which is nice.

“For us, this was really the best-case scenario that this was the only thing (wrong). The other side of the knee that he had repaired was fine.”

Lidge suffered the injury Saturday during batting practice, catching his spikes on the mound. Lidge is already behind schedule in his recovery from surgery to repair torn cartilage in the same knee on October 1.

Acquired from the Houston Astros on November 7 in a five-player deal, Lidge said Saturday that he expects to be ready for Opening Day.

If Lidge begins the season on the disabled list, Tom Gordon would likely close for the Phillies, with Brett Myers returning to the rotation.

Lidge finished 5-3 with a 3.36 ERA and 19 saves for Houston last season.

[njpsufan]

Like it said.. it is not serious. Simple procedure... hell my father had the same thing at age 60 and he was walking ard in a matter of days. If it was the NFL he would not have had the surgery and would be playing on sunday. It happened early in camp so he may not break camp with the team, talk is that he will stay behind a week or so. Could it have been worse... yes, but it was not.

[ThePundit]

Originally Posted by njpsufan

Like it said.. it is not serious. Simple procedure... hell my father had the same thing at age 60 and he was walking ard in a matter of days. If it was the NFL he would not have had the surgery and would be playing on sunday. It happened early in camp so he may not break camp with the team, talk is that he will stay behind a week or so. Could it have been worse... yes, but it was not.

But your dad didn't have to stand on a pitching mound and throw the ball 95 miles an hour when you need maximum strengh in your legs to be effective.

Anytime a player goes under the knife, you can't just dismiss it as nothing. Nothing is he'll miss a day or 2. I'm not sayiing it's going to end his career, but considering that Lidge has been hurt before, it is cause for SOME concern.

[njpsufan]

If it was a shoulder or an elbow problem I would agree. But a minor scope of the knee is just that... minor. If it was a major thing then those bozos on ESPN would be all over it. When it turned out to be this mimor thing they moved on. The surgery went well they said and he will be throwing by the w/e, not from the mound but from a chair. The problem is he will lose this time to pitch in spring games and work out the kinks. They are saying in the Philly papers that he will start on the DL or stay in FLA (more likely) for two weeks. That works fine as the NE is cold in early April. I think the concern is more from the Mutts as this is just what they want to hear... an injury to the PHilly staff after they added Santana.