At Reading, Phillies pitcher Myers looks sharp again

READING - Brett Myers knows. Of course he does. Even on a rehab assignment, even 3 months after throwing his last big-league pitch, the 29-year-old righthander has his Sling Box set up so he can watch every game on his computer.

So, yes, he knows that any similarity between the spotless Brad Lidge of 2008 and the guy who has already blown nine saves and has an ERA that's more than a touchdown and extra point is purely coincidental.

And while he claims to be unaware of the code-red level of concern surrounding this situation - after Lidge was unable to hold a ninth-inning lead against the Pirates on Tuesday night, radio announcer Larry Andersen asked rhetorically whether the Phillies could go deep into the playoffs if he didn't straighten himself out, then answered his own query with 'absolutely not' - Myers is at least certain about one thing.

If there's anything he can do about it, if he has any say, there will be no controversy surrounding his role when he is activated.

Recovering from June 4 surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip, Myers made his third rehab appearance last night. Pitching at Double A Reading, he worked the seventh and eighth innings and blew through the Erie Seawolves' lineup: no hits, no runs, one walk, five strikeouts.

He needed just 24 pitches, 17 of them strikes. In his second inning he struck out the side on just 11 pitches. According to the most reliable radar-gun readings, his fastball topped out at 92 and was routinely at 91.

Here, then, are the ingredients for the perfect storm. Lidge is struggling mightily. Ryan Madson blew a save opportunity last night in Pittsburgh filling in for Lidge, who had appeared in the previous four games. Myers was the Phillies' closer in 2007, after being the Opening Day starter, and his 21 saves helped the Phillies make it to the postseason for the first time in more than a decade.

It's not a huge leap, then, to see the fans begin to clamor to see Myers with the game on the line in the ninth.

Myers was clearly uncomfortable when the subject was raised last night. Three times in a 12-minute pregame interview he said he wasn't coming back with the intention of taking anybody's job.

"I would hope [Myers' return won't put any pressure on Lidge]. I would hope it would make him better," Myers said. "Maybe that it would lock him in. Hopefully I'll get up there and he'll shut them down and we won't have to discuss this anymore because you obviously hear it and you see it and everything.

"I don't want to start any turmoil in any part of the team. I don't want to be anything like that. I just want to help. I want to go pitch. I don't want any controversy or, 'Oh, we want him in there' and start stirring up stuff. That's not what I plan on doing."

But he said there is no reason that he couldn't close if manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee ask him to.

"If they need me to close the game . . . yeah, we can do that. They can pick who they want to put in that situation. But am I prepared to do anything they ask? Yeah, I'll be ready. I've closed before. It's nothing new for me to go out and do it," he said.

He swears, though, that he has no sense that anybody might be looking at him to patch what, at the moment, looks like a very large hole in the Phillies' dreams.

"Dude, I'm not there. I couldn't really tell you . . . I don't know what's going on," he said.

Myers said his schedule remains fluid but that he expects to make two or three more rehab appearances, with the next one likely to be back at Reading on Saturday against Bowie.

Asked after the game if he thought he needed additional tuneups, he demurred: "I don't know. It's not in my hands. I'm ready whenever they want me."

Again, though, he downplayed the thought that he's the answer if Lidge continues to be a question mark.

"I guess they're just going to go with the hot hand, whoever's going good," he said. "I feel like I have to make the team. Honestly, you know? Period. I don't expect to be given anything if somebody is throwing better. There are no guarantees in this game, no guarantees I can go back out there and do anything sufficient. Hopefully I can. Hopefully I get enough work here and feel comfortable going back there."