Nationals Release Lidge

Lidge, above, was not who he used to be for the Nats. (Photo: usatoday.net)

Late Monday night, the Washington Nationals parted ways with former MLB World Series Champion Brad Lidge. This comes just nine days after designating him for assignment.

The Nationals signed Lidge to help fill the void in the bullpen. They were hoping that he would be able to come in and be the Nationals number one closer. Following an abdominal injury and sports hernia surgery, Lidge was forced to miss most of the season.

Looking back, Lidge never became the pitcher that the Nationals had hoped he would be. In 11 appearances, Lidge managed only 9.1 innings and a 2.46 WHIP and 9.64 ERA. His numbers haven't been that bad since his rookie season. He saved two games while blowing two more save opportunities.

In the long run, the move makes sense. With Cole Kimball and Drew Storen set to return within the coming weeks, Brad Lidge would not see much action on the mound anyways.

Also, the Nationals bullpen has panned out in a way that they didn't expect it to. Following the injuries to Storen and Kimball, the Nationals did expected Tyler Clippard to be their number one setup man and then Henry Rodriguez to be their number one closer.

It became quite the opposite. Clippard has now assumed the role as the teams closer and the likes of Sean Burnett, Tom Gorzelanny, and Ryan Mattheus have all proved to be solid setup pitchers.