When the Philadelphia Phillies acquired both Brad Lidge and Chad Durbin, each of the two players had numerous question marks about their productivity.
Lidge, traded from the Houston Astros, had his shares of struggles since the 2005 postseason, when he gave up a walk-off home runs to Albert Pujols in the NLCS and Scott Podsednik in the World Series.
He had gone in and out of the closer's role and struggled in comparisons to his previous campaigns.
Though. he had improved in 2007, compared to 2006 and returned to the closer's role later that year, there were still numerous questions about his ability to close in the majors.
Meanwhile, Durbin began the year as a starting pitcher for the Detroit Tigers and struggled his way into the bullpen, where he did not fare much better.
The journeyman right-hander posted a 97 ERA+ and a 1.43 WHIP— nothing to get very excited about.
When the Phillies signed him to a one-year deal, the consensus was that he would not be much of an impact player for the Phillies, and would probably either be a spot starter or have a mop-up role in the bullpen.
Despite their previous histories, Lidge, the closer, and Durbin, his primary set-up man, have become the two most important pitchers in the Phillies' surprisingly stable bullpen this season.
Their success continued in tonight's 2-1 victories over the Cardinals.
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