Confirmed: Madson's a reliever, and a darn good one

The career of 26-year-old Ryan Madson took a dramatic turn last month when he proved, once again, he's one of the game’s best middle relievers.

The Phillies learned an important lesson not to mess with success when it comes to Ryan Madson.

After two seasons of rock-solid middle relief, there was a huge push to get Madson into the rotation. He was a starter in the minors – and a very good one – and also had the tall, athletic conditioning one would expect from a starting pitcher. There was always the thought, among players and fans, that he had been unjustly denied an opportunity.

The young right-hander only became a relief pitcher out of necessity in 2004. He was given a mop-up role of sorts, and was an immediate success. In fact, Madson stopped the bleeding so many times, he might have been the team’s most valuable player during the first half of that season.

It was only hinted he would be used as a starter in 2005. It nearly happened when Vicente Padilla was given a last chance to turn it around, and surprisingly did. Madson stayed on in the bullpen, and Charlie Manuel used him hard, perhaps too hard. By September, he was spent.

Heading into this season, the Phillies thought Madson’s curveball had developed enough to use him in the rotation. It hadn’t. After two months, it was clear the experiment wasn’t working. Madson struggled with his command and rarely used his curve. As a result, the bottom fell out hard in the later innings. Hitters were catching up.

Madson last pitched in the rotation a month ago. Since then, he's made 12 relief appearances, posting a solid 3.00 ERA in 18 innings. Over that span, his walks are way down – only five in August – and he’s striking out over a batter per inning (19).

Although the accolades are greater for starting pitchers, the field is wide open for young, athletic middle reliever who can pitch anytime, anywhere. It's a commodity teams are starting to pay starter money to attain. That value is especially high for a Phillies team where the set-up man and closer are 36 and 38 respectively.

Instead of projecting as a bottom of the rotation pitcher, it’s time to start thinking of Madson as the next Trevor Hoffman. Thinking along those lines, he’s right up there with Hamels, Utley and Howard as a vital part of the Phillies' future.

Comments

[joe]

Great article Jason!

Madson has a different presence in his refound role in the bullpen. He looks intimidating and confident, instead of lost and vulnerable as a starter.

He should be the future closer, and hell if flash isnt back, he should be the present closer.

[RickSchuBlues]

I'm not sure I'm ready to draw the same conclusion on Madson. He struggled mightily as a starter, but it had been two years since he'd been in that role. In the minors, he was solid as a starter and was projected as such. I don't believe that it's out of the realm of possibility that with more seasoning, Madson could put together a semblance of consistency as a starter.

I will agree with you that the Phillies will never allow for that opportunity so long as he is still on the team. To this end, it is likely another team will want to try him as a starter and trade for him in the fairly near future. I will also agree that Madson's flexibility out of the bullpen is valuable, and since he has proven to be more effective on the whole as a reliever, the Phillies have little choice but to use him in this role at this point, and probably beyond.

But I think Madson still has a better shot to be a decent starter than a closer. To my eyes, he has above-average starter's stuff but below-average closer's stuff. You may argue that the evidence from earlier this year points away from that, but I maintain that his issue was less a question of stuff than mechanics, confidence, and command - traits which, not incidentally, you really don't look for in a potential closer.

[voice of reason]

Nice article, JW!

I always thought Madson had the repertoire to be an effective starter but he hasn't panned out in that role and is unlikely to start again for the Phils.

Future closer? From the vantage point of my couch, his stuff last night looked superb. Good movement, decent control, used all pitches confidently - looked like a future closer to me.

[Dick Richards]

What do you suppose Charlie meant when he said that Madson was "too impatient" to be an effective starter?

[RickSchuBlues]

This storm could be the biggest blessing for the Phillies since Julio Santana got hurt. It will give the regulars a much-needed chance to rest - particularly Utley, who as I mentioned last night, looks like he needs at least two days off. It'll also give some of the bullpen arms a welcomed rest. I hope nothing too bad comes of Ernesto but as far as the local nine are concerned, it can't be considered a bad thing.

[voice of reason]

From ESPN.com:

"Sausages Beware: Randall Simon Back In Majors"

Phils acquire Simon from Texas Rangers for cash.

[Billy Mac]

Tonight's rainout also most likely means no Scott Mathieson this weekend -- which is a good thing.

[RickSchuBlues]

Wait, what? Randall Simon? Texas? Is this a bad dream?

[mg]

Madson experiment as a starter was a total failure. Just awful numbers.

Phils' should pencil him in as one of their primary two setup guys next year in the pen since Gordon will be the closer.

[George S]

Jason, what you have said is correct from the viewpoint of what's best for the Phillies. That is not looking at it from the viewpoint of what might be best for Madson, however.
As you also correctly mentioned, the $$ is in being a starter, not a middle reliever. Be a starter with a career sub-.500 record and an ERA over 4.50 and watch GMs salivate to give you $7 mil for 3 years.
Not so a middle reliever. Middle relievers are often looked on as pitchers who 'failed' in other roles.
So if I'm Ryan Madson, strictly speaking from economics, I want to go elsewhere, to a team that will agree to let me be a starter (any number of teams would take that chance). The Phillies have decided I cannot.
The alternative for the Phillies is to groom him as the team's closer, which is also a financially rewarding role. With Gordon here for 1-2 more seasons, that might be a hard sell. Or, as you noted, they can appreciate the importance of his current role and pay him accordingly. But I do not see that ever happening because the Phillies do not want to be the first team to raise the market rate around the league for middle relief.

But that market adjustment is overdue. If you look at the 4 so-called roles of pitchers today..starter, middle relief, setup and closer, the starters are getting big money, and so are closers. You can argue that the starter pitches the most innings, and the closer seals the W, so they deserve more $$. However, the way pitching staffs are used today, starters are pitching fewer and fewer innings (by design) and all 4 roles are used in virtually every game. Middle relievers must be crucial now or teams like the Phillies wouldn't deplete their bench to carry 12-13 pitchers on the roster. A typical game that used to require 1-2 pitchers to complete now takes 3-4. Many more games are actually 'saved' today by good middle relief and a good setup man than ever before. Madson is a great example of that. He should be paid what he's really worth to this team or be allowed to try his hand at being a starter for somebody else.

[MG]

Paying middle relivers alot of money for multi-year deals is one of the stupidest things in baseball, hands down.

[George S]

I am not advocating that you give middle relievers multi-year big $$ contracts. I'm saying the economic value of starters vs middle relievers needs to be reviewed given the way that the game is played and pitching staffs are managed today.

[Bob D]

Good article.

Lets not forget about Geary he has come up out of the minors to excell. He is a much different pitcher in size and pitches, but in my opinion very important to the Phils aswell. These 2 guy are helping almost every game.