Lidge Out 3-6 Weeks: Fantasy Impact

Phillie's closer Brad Lidge will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and will miss 3-6 weeks, following a fluke injury that occured on Saturday. Lidge caught his spike on the mound throwing his first pitch of batting practice and immediately called trainers to the field and hobbled off after throwing just one more pitch. Manager Charlie Manuel said Tom Gordon would close if Lidge isn't ready by Opening Day.

Fantasy Impact

Lidge might miss the beginning of the season, but I don't think this changes his fantasy value very much, in fact it might actually help out. He could miss the first week or two of the season, but I could see people might let his value fall in a draft like he is out for the season. You might wind up getting a 40save guy 3-4 rounds after where he should be going. Don't worry about the knee getting hurt again, its better off this happened now and he had the surgery to fix it, than in the middle of April of May, when he would miss a greater piece of the season. He will have to deal with soreness in the knee throughout the season, but thats not something that should significantly effect his value.

You should take Lidge in your draft, and then Tom Gordon near the end if you are in a Head to Head league and every save could be the difference between a win and a loss. I have used this before, but its a lot like "handcuffing" RBs on a team in football, as an insurance policy.