by Christopher Kiel
Before I start let me say that this blog is at the request of my brother who loves Ryan Madson. I think he likes him because he is the only person I know who is as tall and lanky as Madson!! In all seriousness though, Madson has been an important (and somewhat overlooked) part of the Phillies for the last few years. The casual fan knows all about our starters and Brad Lidge but probably doesn’t realize how important Ryan Madson is. So lets take a look at his career.
Madson was drafted out of High School by the Phillies in the 9th round of the 1998 Draft. Madson spent 6 seasons in the minors. After getting a cup of coffee with the Phillies at the 2003 he came up for good in 2004. For all you bandwagon fans out there a cup of coffee means you’re in the majors for a brief time. For all you illiterates out there brief means short. Ha ha!! As a 23 year old rookie he went 9-3 with a 2.34 era.
After 2 years as a reliever the Phillies decided to make Madson a starter in 2006. The Phllies had high hopes (No pun intended Harry) for him as a starter. Madson had success as a starter in minors. Armed with three pitches (a fastball, a cutter and a slider) Madson had the tools to excel. While he did have 11 wins that season he had a very high era. Ryan did have some good games but he was plagued by inconsistency. By August he was back in the bullpen. I think the Phillies didn’t give him enough of a chance. But what do I know? I also think Madson felt the same way.
The next season Madson was back in the bullpen for good. Could he have been a good starter? I guess we’ll never know. The next few seasons he was a very reliable setup man. Eventually he moved into very important role of 8th inning setup man. I feel that having a good setup is as important as having a good closer. If you can’t get to the 9th inning with the lead then having a good closer is pointless. Kinda like a pencil without lead. Get it? (See if a pencil doesn’t have lead in it, it has no point on it). In 2008 Madson was terrific down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Now let’s get to the part where people have some issues with Madson. In 2009 as Brad Lidge struggled with injuries Madson was picked to be the closer. Many people including this guy were excited to see what Madson could do. For a few years people had viewed Madson as the closer of the future. Let’s just say Madson didn’t excel in this role. Can he eventually become the closer? I have a theory on this but we’ll get to that in a minute. Last season started a little shaky for Madson. The he got into a fight with a folding chair and lost. After a Blown Save Madson kicked a folding chair and broke is toe. I say this is the best thing that ever happened to him. I think it taught him not to take things so seriously and just let them go and move on which is an important quality for a reliever to have.
After his return from the DL in July, he had a 1.64 ERA and 0.89 WHIP in 46 appearances. He continued this dominance into the playoffs. He only allowed one run in the post season. Unfortunately it was the run that won the NLCS for the Giants.
So what will this season bring for Madson? Only time will tell, but in my not so humble opinion Madson will have a great season. I think that if Lidge struggles Ryan will have no problem stepping in as the closer. Madson is older and more mature this time around. I recently saw an interview where Madson talked about how he worked on his focus in the off season. It worked for Hamels last year. Also, Madson is a free agent after this year and if he wants to make some bank he needs a good season.
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