Exclusive Interview With Former Phillies World Series Champion Brad Lidge

In an exclusive interview with Casino Guru, former Philadelphia Phillies closer and 2008 World Series champion Brad Lidge has given his thoughts on the Phillies’ chances of going all the way in 2026 as well as how he thinks this Astros will fair if they make it.

The two-time MLB All-Star discussed why he believes the Phillies have one of its best opportunities in recent years to win the World Series, while backing Jhoan Duran to close out a championship and naming Zack Wheeler as the pitcher he would trust in a must-win postseason game.

For the full interview please see below!

Key Highlights:

• Lidge backs the Phillies to win the World Series, saying they have "as good a shot as anybody" and describing their rotation as the best one through five.
• The former Phillies closer backs Jhoan Duran to close out a World Series and says he is at the top of the shortlist of MLB closers he would want on his team.
• He discusses Don Mattingly’s future and explains why he doesn’t believe the Phillies necessarily need to bring in someone like Alex Cora and should stick with their man.
• Lidge names Zack Wheeler as the Phillies starter he would trust in a must-win postseason game and backs Bryce Harper to deliver if Phillies season came down to one at-bat.
• Finally, Lidge discusses whether the Astros’ dominant era could be coming to an end and puts Yordan Alvarez ahead of "just about anybody, including Ohtani."

Casino Guru: Do you believe this Phillies team has what it takes to win the World Series this year?

Brad Lidge: "Yeah I really do. I think it comes down to a couple things this year. First of all in the past we've seen some incredible teams, some great Yankees teams in the American League, some great Dodgers teams obviously recently. But this particular year, I'm not sure that there's a team in the American League I would circle and say, man that team's going to be tough for anybody to beat. Beyond that, I think the Dodgers are not coming in firing on all cylinders. I mean, they've had a lot of injuries, it's tough to ask even Ohtani to come out there and be hot after the time he's had off. I think Snell's dealing with a groin or hamstring thing too. So I would just say that right now in this particular season, and I know the Brewers have a good squad and I like their whole staff but I think that the Phillies have as good a shot as anybody, and I don't think that's being biased. I really do feel like they have the best rotation 1 through 5, and I feel like that's the biggest element in the postseason is what your starters are going to give you. I also think the Phillies bullpen has been dramatically improved as of late. The hitters have the experience, they have the clutch moments. It hasn't always translated into winning the whole thing. Of course, the last couple of years that they've been close, I just think that competition-wise this year, the path for the Phillies is as good as it's been in any of these recent seasons."

CG: So you mentioned the bullpen then, and one thing I was kind of reading is there are some kind of concerns there, and people are saying it's the biggest concern heading into October. Do you trust the group then to lead them into postseason?

Brad Lidge: "I do. The addition of Alex McFarland out there he's been electric and he might have some bumps here and there, just learning, but he's not having to do it like as a closer and frankly, the way Alvarado's throwing as well, I think he's going to be the guy that gets the ball a lot in the 8th inning too, whenever those key lefty matchups are happening. You can't do a whole lot better than Duran at the end of games. So I think that the Phillies bullpen right now is in a pretty good place. I understand that it hasn't been there all season. They've had some ups and downs and and I hope Kerkering is able to come back and be a big contributor to that bullpen in the postseason, as he's been in the past for the Phillies and I think he will. But right now, I think the bullpen is operating at a pretty high level, and I would rather take a bullpen that's had some bumps and bruises but looks like they're collectively sorted in the last couple of weeks of September than one that's been kind of exhausted all season and not sure where they're at the end of September. So I just think the timing is good for the Phillies bullpen and I do think that they're fine at this point."

CG: What do you think is the biggest thing that could potentially stop the Phillies from going all the way?

Brad Lidge: "I guess it would be the same thing it's been the last couple of years. If they happen to face a team that maybe is kind of coming in hot and the matchups aren't in favour for them offensively. So they're facing some really good starting pitching and they're not really able to get the momentum going in the game. We've seen it with teams like Arizona a couple of years ago, the Mets. It's been tricky for the Phillies. But if the offence can stay collectively playing well, guys like Trey Turner, who I think is hitting better now, if he can kind of step up as well, I don't think there's a whole lot that's going to stop them. But that would be the thing, if they face some great pitching and it kind of plays to their weaknesses a little bit and, and prevents them from getting momentum. That's what's happened the last couple years, even with a great offence. So, theoretically that could happen again. But like I said before, I don't see the teams, I mean, the Brewers have a great staff, but I just don't see the teams that are going to match up well against the Phillies."

CG: Do you think there's one player who could determine how far they go this postseason? If there was one player that could take them through?

Brad Lidge: "We always want to circle somebody offensive players and it could be one of those guys that isn't Schwarber, isn't Harper, or somebody steps up and has a great postseason. I think Trey Turner could be that guy offensively where if he gets hot, he's a guy that gets multiple hits in a lot of games in a row. So he could be that X factor. But I would say that if Zack Wheeler is feeling great, he's the guy for me that kind of jumps back to the head of the rotation. Obviously Sánchez has had an incredible season, but Zack Wheeler punched out the first 7 guys he faced last night. He looks like he's feeling electric and for me, when you throw him out there, you set the tone for a series, and I think if Wheeler's firing on all cylinders, then the Phillies can go all the way."

CG: As someone who's closed out a World Series, what have you made of Duran? Is he capable of being the closer on a championship-winning team?

Brad Lidge: "Yeah, no question. The only downside when you've got a sinker the way he has throwing 102mph, with that sinking fastball, is that sometimes guys can have contact, whereas opposed to a lot of guys like a Mason Miller might ride that 4-seam fastball up at the top of the zone. You'll get more swing and miss with a guy like Mason Miller than Duran because Duran generates such weak contact. But every once in a while you can get a couple broken bat hits. We even see it off Mariano Rivera. That even happened one time when he pitched against the Diamondbacks in the World Series. So even against the best in the game, sometimes there can be a couple sequences where guys get a broken bat hit and punch a ball over the infield's head or whatever. But besides that unlucky scenario, Duran absolutely has what it takes to, to close out the World Series and frankly, he's probably the guy at the very top of a very short list that I would want closing for my team of everyone in Major League Baseball."

CG: Just on Jesus Luzardo, he's progressing from his shoulder injury, but his availability potentially for postseason is remaining a bit uncertain. How important is it for the Phillies to get him back?

Brad Lidge: "Well, it's definitely important. Shoulder injuries are tricky, and that's kind of one thing that might derail him a little bit. If it was an elbow, like tendonitis or hamstring, or I mean even like intercostal muscle. All those things have a very predictable timetable to recover from. Shoulders are a little bit different, and it kind of varies from pitcher to pitcher. So Luzardo's been incredible this season. He is very difficult to hit, and I would say that for the Phillies, while their whole postseason run doesn't depend on Luzardo being in there, It certainly gives them a massive advantage to have that length in the rotation where you don't have to wear out your bullpen early. Like when Luzardo is going well and he's throwing 6, 7 innings, you think he can finish a game and whether they take him out or not, it rests your bullpen a lot. So if they don't have him, it's going to put an extra tax on the bullpen. That could be a potential difficult lift for the Phillies bullpen. But if Luzardo does come back, if he's feeling good, then that's going to be a huge indicator that the Phillies have as good a shot as anybody to win it this year, being completely unbiased in that assessment."

CG: You mentioned Orion Kerkering. He's been optioned to AAA after a couple difficult months. You've spoken to him before about dealing with them tough postseason moments. What do you think's kind of gone wrong for him in the past few months?

Brad Lidge: "Yeah, he's given up more hits and even in situations where he's coming in and he's not kind of being a setup guy in a close, tight ballgame. I would say this, they were trying to - and I love Don Mattingly - he's trying to get him in however he can to try and get him right. But a lot of times when you've been pitching in these high-leverage situations and the adrenaline is going in these one-run games, tie games, two-run lead and you're in your role, all of a sudden now you've got to throw and your team's down 3 runs or the game's kind of out of hand, then all of a sudden it gets really difficult to pitch and because you don't have the same adrenaline that you normally do when you go out there in a tight ballgame. So I think for him it snowballed a little bit. He's got to figure out a way to just get out there. If he can get back on that postseason roster, we'll kind of see what happens. If he's able to look up on that scoreboard, see the ERA is zero, starting a completely new season, so to speak, he can kind of hit that reset. Sometimes that's all it takes to just get back out there and get the feels again of what it feels like to pitch in that nice cool weather in October. That can totally change your mindset and get you right back dialed in mentally to the processes that you've had that have led to success before."

CG: Would you have any advice for him now?

Brad Lidge: "Yeah as long as he's feeling healthy, as long as he's feeling good when he's out there he has a lot of success that he can fall back on and I think he just needs to remember to keep things simple out there. He's got great stuff, the fastball-slider combo's electric, and I think that he just needs to keep it simple, get ahead of hitters and try and put them away. If he can start in the postseason again, if he can get back out there, look up and, remember that it's a totally new ballgame and if he can generate a couple good innings, then all of a sudden I think it's just downhill sledding after that."

CG: If you had to choose one Phillies starting pitcher to start a must-win postseason game, game, who are you going to give the ball to and why?

Brad Lidge: It's going to be Zack Wheeler. There's a lot of great options here. We talked about Luzardo throwing great this year. I would still say that Sánchez is probably up there and the way Aaron Nola is throwing right now, I mean, he's got it, he's somebody that's been so dependable and so solid for so long. But I think that, Zack Wheeler stuff plays up and it plays up in the postseason. We've seen him dominate in the postseason before. He is the guy for me that you'd want to give him the ball because he just looks like when he's out there, he's in total command. The other team looks defensive when they get in the box. All of a sudden you see him float a few forcing fastballs at the top of the zone by the hitters, and they have to change their approach because wherever they get up there and they think they can foul that pitch off or stay alive, all of a sudden they realise they can't even do that. It puts a lot of pressure on them, and Wheeler is awesome about getting ahead in the count, attacking hitters, and putting the pressure on that offence."

Brad Lidge: So yeah, I would say Zack Wheeler's the guy for sure.

CG: If the Phillies season came down to one at-bat, is Bryce Harper still the player you'd want at the plate?

Brad Lidge: "Yeah, no doubt. It's funny, you could say Schwarber, he's a guy that can make a lot of exciting things happen, but there's been a lot of big moments in the postseason and in clutch moments that Bryce Harper has come up huge and I think that sometimes that can be forgotten because the Phillies haven't necessarily won the World Series over the last couple years, even though they've had some opportunities and they've been very close. Bryce seems to come up clutch as much as anybody, and even there are times where, he's hit in these big important situations, he's been right on it. He's hit like a line drive out and it hasn't necessarily translated to the Phillies winning games, but he always seems to be in that moment, hitting the ball well, making really solid contact. He's not making easy outs in the postseason. So he's the guy I'd want to see up there in these really important situations. You look at last year - I'll say this too about the Phillies. Last year, obviously, Kerkering had that tough moment in the postseason against the Dodgers. If you look at the Dodgers and being the best team in baseball last couple seasons, the Phillies were toe-to-toe with them that whole series and in fact, I think the Phillies had a little bit of an advantage. I think that if they would have kept playing the Phillies would have ended up ahead. So I think the Phillies are right there is what I'm saying. There's been a couple bad luck things, but you throw in Zack Wheeler, you throw in Bryce Harper and these clutch at-bats. If they can continue to do that in 2026, this has got to be the season. I just don't think they're going to have those little things that haven't gone the Phillies' way. I think this year is going to be different."

CG: Was Dave Dombrowski wrong to publicly question if Bryce Harper was elite or not?

Brad Lidge: "I would say I don't know what the purpose of that was, even now. I mean, if you're, if you're trying to motivate Bryce, if you're trying to, get him to come in and have the best season of his career. It's not like he's a guy that doesn't work hard in the offseason. It's not like he's a guy that doesn't take things seriously. So I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of those comments was. I think that maybe Dombrowski is frustrated. He wanted to get the best out of Bryce Harper for whatever years he has left in his prime but there are other ways to do it. I don't know if that was something I would want as a player to see. I think Bryce handled it really well, I will say, because I think that a lot of players could bark back and be really upset and make it a huge deal. I think Bryce just did a pretty good job using it as fuel, using it as motivation. What else can you do? But that being said, Bryce has done an incredible job ever since he's been with the Phillies and I know the very, very beginning of Bryce's career, 2012 in Washington, that was my last season and I was with him in spring training and when he got called up just barely before I got released at the start of Bryce's career. But the player and man that he he has grown up and matured into somebody that every team would want in those pressure situations. So I don't think you want to make him upset or anything like that. I don't think he would necessarily have taken it and in the wrong way because he is somebody that can handle something like that. I'll just go back and say I don't know what the purpose of that was. It didn't seem like it was necessary to me."

CG: Do you think Don Mattingly has done enough to earn the Phillies job permanently, or is it going to depend on this postseason?

Brad Lidge: "Well, I think it will depend on the postseason, but I don't know if it necessarily should. I think Mattingly has a fantastic track record and obviously he has a ton of respect from the players, right. Also how he's conducted himself as a manager in a lot of different roles on a lot of different types of teams. Like he's been on some teams that he's managed that just didn't have a great roster to put it mildly and he's been on some teams that had awesome rosters. I think for me having been in all those different situations really equips him well to be able to get through any bad stretch or good stretch with a level head. So I really like Don Mattingly. I hope he stays around for a long time. I have a feeling ultimately that it might have to do with the run that the Phillies have in this postseason. I don't know what level they need to get to to kind of justify bringing him back or what the front office has in mind, but I would like to see him win. I'd love for the Phillies to win the World Series and Mattingly to be there for the next 10 years if he wants, but I think ultimately postseason success is going to matter. But he's done a great job this year with the Phillies, and like I said, everyone respects him. So I hope he's there for a long time."

CG: Would you stick with Mattingly over bringing someone like Alex Cora in?

Brad Lidge: "Again, it will depend a little bit on how deep the Phillies get and what it looks like. The Phillies win the World Series, I don't know why you'd go away from Mattingly and I think the other thing is that the Phillies have a very veteran-laden team. These are older players that know what they need to do and know their process. So I don't think it's necessary to bring in somebody like Cora for a team like this. Certainly he's a great manager, and certainly he'd be very valuable on a lot of teams. But when you've already got your veterans there and they already have their process and they already know what they're doing, Then you just want somebody who's going to be level-headed, not make too many speeches or anything like that and I think Mattingly is that guy. So while it would be great to have Cora as well because he is a great manager, he sees a lot in the game that other people don't see. Is that enough to give the Phillies an advantage? I I don't know if it is. I tend to think like right now in October, there's going to be some decisions that have to be made by the manager about taking your starting pitcher out. That's going to be the biggest thing that's put on managers always in the postseason. Does Wheeler throw into the 7th inning or do you get him out and get the bullpen in? And if the bullpen throws well, if they go out and do their job, then you're a great manager. But if somebody comes in, he doesn't execute, then you're not a good manager. I think that's wild that it always falls on the shoulder of the managers, but there are times for sure when we've seen managers take starters out too early and you can really circle those and say that was a mistake. I just don't see a world in which, as well as Mattingly knows the Phillies and as well as those guys know themselves, it'll be a little bit trickier to make mistakes as a manager if you're managing the Phillies."

CG: Just on the Phillies postseason atmosphere, it's often seen as an advantage. It's quite intense. Does that intensity ever work against the players? Can they get kind of too emotional, too caught up in the occasion, or is it the opposite? It kind of gets you going, fired up.

Brad Lidge: "Yeah, I think it gets you going and fired up. I mean you could maybe look at it and say, is it too intense? Is it too much? But honestly, I don't think so. For me, if you're a player in the postseason of Philadelphia, you want to feel that energy and that electricity. I guarantee I've been out there for the postseason the last couple of years and it has been incredible to be a part of it, and I never thought the fans could be louder than when we had our postseason runs in 2008, '09, '10. 11, but they seem to have taken it up to an even greater notch. So that is awesome for the players. I mean, I can tell you that like in the postseason when I was running out there, like in 2008, I felt like I could run through a brick wall. The amount of adrenaline and everything kind of going with you and for you when you're out there as a player, the energy is incredible and you can feed on that as a player. So I think it's fantastic. It also puts a lot obviously on the other team, to be able to mentally have the wherewithal to be able to get through all that. The positive energy is going on the Phillies, the negative energy is going toward you. So it's not an easy thing as a visiting player to deal with that either. I think that's why it's such an advantage. The Phillies, they know the fans are going to be great. They know they're going to be supportive for them in the postseason. The other teams have to get in there and deal with everything that comes with that too. I can tell you that if as a visiting player, like before games and batting practice and stuff, you are getting strays and rocket fire and everything else coming at you from every direction, and it's not an easy place to be and it can wear guys down. It can chip away at people too, especially like if you're a visiting bullpen guy. Fans can't get away maybe with quite as much as they used to when I was pitching out there, but it's not an easy place to be, and that's a big-time home field advantage for the Phillies."

CG: You talked about the 2008 World Series-winning team then that you were part of. Do you see any similarities between this current team and that team back then?

Brad Lidge: "Even though we were kind of in our prime, we weren't necessarily young and our offence was just one of those offences that could just light you up at any moment if you were off your game. I think that's true with the Phillies offence also right now. Guys like Jayson Werth hitting in the 5 or 6 hole. He's one of these incredible postseason hitters. Even if it's not as long as it used to be, I still think the veterans that the Phillies have on their offence are giving them the ability to have that longer offence and those great at-bats, which is important and they're going to need to do that this postseason. They're going to need to be able to have good at-bats, if they go down they take a part of that starting pitcher with them. They make them throw 6, 7, 8 pitches. So he can't stay as deep into the game. I would say that the rotations are different, we had obviously Cole Hamels at the top and a very solid rotation in 2008 but I think the Phillies rotation now is as good as any I've ever seen. Now, I could compare that more favourably maybe to the Phillies rotation in 2010 and '11 when we had like Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay and those guys, Doc, Roy Oswalt. Hamels was still there. So we had some incredible rotations too. And that's one of the things that's going to take the Phillies deep, but there are some similarities and there are some differences. I'll just take it to the last component, the bullpen. I think we had a lot of kind of veteran guys that kind of really knew their craft and I think the Phillies bullpen now is a little bit different, even though Alvarado, Duran, they're veteran guys now, but they're going to be depending on some younger guys too and that wasn't something that we did as much in 2008, '09, '10. Not to say that it can't work and that it won't work. It's just that it's a little bit different recipe out there in the bullpen."

CG: What's the number one area the Phillies need to strengthen this offseason?

Brad Lidge: "Well, I think that they're gonna have to take a look at the offence, and they're gonna have to say, are we going to be able to commit to these guys as everyday players year in and year out if they're not producing at the levels that we need? I'm not going to single any players necessarily out offensively, but obviously you've got your superstars and then the other guys have to step up and become solid everyday players for the consistency of the season. That's a difficult thing to do and to ask. Every team is going to have their guys that are great defensively and they don't need to produce as much offensively, but I think some of the guys have kind of plateaued a little bit. You'd like to see them continue to take steps forward. So they're going to have to assess if this postseason doesn't go well, are these the guys, and there's a handful of them, these kind of, players entering into their prime, are these the guys that we're going to commit to? Are they going to be good enough to be able to take us to that promised land to win the whole thing? I don't know how you do any better in the rotation and I think the window is still there for the Phillies for a couple years. But it's again, you've got guys 33, 34, 35 years old and so it becomes a lot trickier to, to say that this is something we can count on for a while. The window is going to be there this year. Obviously it's there this year. It's going to be there for another year or two, but it closes quickly when it does and so you've got to be able to reload a little bit too. So the Phillies just have to kind of step back and let's keep putting everything in, all chips are on the table right now, but we also have to look seriously in a couple years down the road and figure out who the guys are going to be at that point. They've got some homework for sure this offseason, no matter what happens, even if they win the whole thing."

CG: How much longer do you think the Phillies core kind of has to win a World Series? Just 1, 2, maybe 3 years?

Brad Lidge: "Yeah, I think so. Wheeler did an incredible job coming back this year from the big surgery he had, which isn't an easy thing to come back from. A lot of people were thinking, okay, he'll be back, but it'll be like 90, 95%. He's done an incredible job. He's 100% of himself now, he's electric, but he's not a spring chicken anymore. Neither is Aaron Nola. Sánchez is kind of entering his prime right now, Luzardo as well, we obviously expect great things from Painter coming up. So, I like the rotation in terms of where it is, but how long can you depend on Wheeler and Nola? They've been as much of workhorse-type pitchers as anybody in baseball over the last decade, which is really cool to see that the Phillies have 2 guys like that, but again, at some point they're going to hit a wall and when they do, it tends to drop off quick. Obviously, Schwarber is not young. Harper's not young anymore., and a lot of people wonder if they've kind of gotten to the other side of their prime. I don't know if that's the case. I mean, they might have another couple incredible seasons. Every year it seems like people say that Schwarber's not gonna be able to do what he did the year before, and he does. Bryce continues to be a great player at the plate, but they are a team that is probably in need of some youth and I think that besides that, when the veteran guys kind of get to that mid-30s age, it just statistically speaking, you just don't seem to generate the same returns as you've been able to in the past. Hopefully they, they can play into their upper 30s at an elite level, but it's just not typically what we see in the game."

CG:Just on Bryce Harper, does he already rank amongst the greatest Phillies you've ever seen, or does he need to win a World Series in Philadelphia to cement his legacy there?

Brad Lidge: "It's an interesting question. Just offhand, yes, he is one of the best Phillies who has played in Philadelphia. This past summer, a couple months ago, I was out there for Chase Utley getting inducted into the Wall of Fame for the Phillies and Bryce can get to that point that Chase is at, which is the legendary guy of Philadelphia obviously besides like a Mike Schmidt or Steve Carlton. Chase is up there with anybody. But in order for Bryce to be at that level, like on the Mount Rushmore of the Phillies, he's going to have to win a World Series. It's just the way it is. Otherwise, he's going to be known as one of the best Phillies to ever play. I don't know if it's fair maybe Bryce has already made his way onto that Mount Rushmore, but it will always be questioned if he doesn't win a World Series. I hate to say that because the numbers and everything he's done in Philadelphia put him as one of the 4 greatest Phillies, I think, at this point, or at least he's very close, but the World Series would make it a layup. So I hope that he's able to get that this year and become easily one of the Mount Rushmore guys."

CG: Houston, they're fighting for the AL West in the final week. How dangerous do you think they could be if they do reach the postseason?

Brad Lidge: "The Astros always seem to be dangerous, and even these last couple years they always seem to be hanging around. They always seem to get a foot into the postseason, obviously beating the Phillies in 2023 and winning the whole thing. That being said, the team is very different than it was in the past and so when I say they're always dangerous, I think there's a great home field advantage that happens in Houston, playing there for a long time and seeing it continue even after I've been there, but I look back and I look at the team, I look at the roster. I mean, this is a team that's under.500. so it's not like there are obvious things that would make you circle the Astros and say if they do win this division, watch out everybody. Yordan Alvarez is one of the best hitters in baseball, but you look at the rest of the roster, and if I'm pitching against the Astros, the number one question I would have in my mind is, why would I ever throw him a strike? I don't think I would do it unless there's nobody on base. We're up by however many runs, you're down by how many runs, but in a big-time situation, and I think that the Astros fans will have to be patient with this. If I'm coaching the other team, if I'm a pitching coach, if I'm the manager, I'm saying just put the dude on base. We don't need to pitch to this guy. We'll take our chances with the rest of the young lineup, a lineup that doesn't necessarily have a great on-base percentage collectively. Make them beat you and that's not anything other than just basic strategy. So if the Astros offence was a little bit deeper then that would be one thing. Obviously they have talent there. They've got great young players, but I'm telling you right now, when you've got a guy that stands out that much in a lineup, you just pitch around them, take your chances with another guy. I think that that hurts the Astros a little bit, that you can pitch to their lineup that way. Rotation is solid. Bullpen is solid. Love Hader back there but I just feel like the Astros overall, not as dangerous of a lineup and not as dangerous of a roster as they've had in the past going into the postseason. But again, if you you catch the guys at the right time and the other guys step up offensively, they can take teams down for sure."

CG: They've obviously had a long run of postseason success. Do you think we could potentially be seeing the end of an era for one of baseball's most dominant teams?

Brad Lidge: "I think so. I think it's interesting because I look at it as even though the postseason amount of teams has expanded, and the Astros are under.500. If they win the division and this keeps going, then I would say the continuation can keep happening until somebody steps up and takes them down. I think everyone in baseball thought Seattle would be great this year. They have not been, and so until a team like that is able to step up, or the Rangers, whoever it is, and continue to put pressure on the Astros to have to have a great season to be in the postseason, until that happens, The Astros can keep winning the division even if they don't have a great roster. So is it the end of a, of a great run? Only if the other teams play better in the AL West. Next year the Astros could be 5 games over.500 just as easily as they are about.500 right now and win the division. So if nobody else steps up, they'll keep going and they do have a lot of experience and that's going to lend itself to, to being able to advance in the postseason. It's not the same team, at some point we have to look at this team and say, Bregman's not there. Correa is not like any of the big-time players that they've had over the years. I know Altuve is still there, but he's obviously toward the end of his career, so a lot of the big-time guys, a lot of the big moments, Springer, all those guys, they're not there. It's a different team. They're good enough to be there, but are they good enough to continue to make a run? I think that depends on the other teams in the AL West."

CG: Yordan Alvarez, he's still alive in the Triple Crown race. Where does he rank amongst the hitters you'd least want to face in one of them pressure situations?

Brad Lidge: "Yeah, I was watching the game in 2023 when he took Phillies reliever José Alvarado deep and that was a huge moment for the Astros and a huge moment for Alvarez. It kind of reminded you that this guy is a little bit like Big Papi and if teams do elect to pitch to him in important situations, they're going to get burnt more often than not. Another reason you'd be crazy to pitch to him if the game is on the line. I think he's probably up there as one of the top 3 hitters in baseball right now that I would least want to face in a big-time situation. I think that he is just able to see the ball deep. He's able to wait and then he can flick it out to left field so easily, he just doesn't have to swing and miss. He doesn't have to swing aggressively, I should say. He can swing patiently and let the pitch go where it's going to, and then he can take it out to any part of the park. I wouldn't want to face him at all is the short answer. I mean, there's obviously guys like Bryce and Aaron Judge actually had a good postseason last year as well but I don't even know if he's going to be back in time for the playoffs or not. So you look at some of the best hitters in the game and I would put right now, I put Yordan Alvarez ahead of just about anybody, including Ohtani and just about anybody else. I don't think he's a top 3 guy. Frankly, he might be number 1, and I just can't think of anybody else ahead of him."

CG: Who do you consider the best closer in MLB right now?

Brad Lidge: "There's probably 3 guys that just jump to mind, and if I'm missing somebody, I apologise. But the way Josh Hader is throwing the ball right now, his health and everything else, I have to mention him as one of the top guys. He certainly is, and he's been for a while and that's a great advantage for the Astros. Mason Miller, obviously the dude had an incredible season, he's been electric and I think that anybody just putting the ball in play against him is wild. Then I'll go with Duran as well, the Durantula out there in Philly. I mean he's on top of his game and he's throwing 100-mile-an-hour bowling balls up there. I've seen numbers from him recently where, split finger fastballs at 99, 100 miles an hour pitches that are moving like crazy. I think guys are in a defensive mode as soon as they step in there. They're just trying to put the ball in play. The Phillies are lucky to have him. We've talked about 2 teams a lot today, the Astros and the Phillies. Both of them have the guy in the 9th inning that is as good as anybody in the game, and I put Mason Miller up there as well."

CG: You've obviously experienced the other side of October with Albert Pujols' famous home run in 2005. How did you mentally recover from a moment like that?

Brad Lidge: "Yeah, it's, it's never easy. You go through the offseason, you've got to figure out a way to get yourself ready for the following season. For me, there were a couple things I had going for myself. I could fall back on the success I've had previous to that and at some point you realise it's one bad pitch and you've thrown thousands of pitches in Major League Baseball, and frankly, most of them go really well. So you just kind of have to fall back into that. But it's never easy because the following season you're going to get asked a lot of questions in that spring training, you got to get through it and everything else to get to the season. I also think it was a little bit trickier because the Astros teams of 2006 and '07 weren't quite as good as they were in like '03, '04, and '05, even though they were solid. So we didn't have the opportunity to get back to the postseason, which is kind of one of those things that can ultimately right the ship. So I had to wait until I got to Philadelphia, but that for me was an incredibly fortunate trade, to be traded to a team that was already kind of ready to go close to the World Series and had gotten pretty close the year before. So for me, getting the opportunity again in the postseason, I think I had to wait for a while, but the experiences I had from 2005 allowed me to have a great season and a great postseason in 2008 with the Phillies. So I look back at it and say, all these things happen for a reason, and if 2005 wouldn't have happened, then 2008 never would have happened. So it's just all part of what happens in the roller coaster of being a closer in Major League Baseball. So every great closer gets to be in a lot of important games, and I feel fortunate to have been in that. In the moment, in the time, it's definitely hard to deal with and I've watched a lot of closers over the last 21 years now since that time happened and you always want to reach out and say, "Hey, hang in there, stick with it. You're going to get another chance, another opportunity and if you're ready, and if you can right the ship, then it's all good. Like that's all people are going to remember." So, I've had 2, a moment in Houston that didn't go so well and a moment in Philly that obviously did great. I would just say, you just gotta stay mentally strong and wait for your next opportunity, but it's, it is an emotional roller coaster to be a closer in Major League Baseball if you're lucky enough to have that job."