Phillies Notes: Lidge is back with Phillies, but has to show he's effective

At last, Brad Lidge is back at the table, but someone has taken his seat.

The 34-year-old Lidge, who hasn't pitched in the majors since the National League Championship Series against San Francisco in October, roamed through the Phillies clubhouse Friday with a persistent smile after he was activated from the disabled list.

"On my way over, it felt like opening day to me," the righthander said. "There were butterflies in my stomach and everything. It's a lot of fun to be back here."

Lidge knows that his closer's role belongs to Antonio Bastardo and Ryan Madson for now, and that he must prove to manager Charlie Manuel he is fully healed from the partially torn rotator cuff that put him on the DL March 25. But he's fine with it. He just wants to pitch.

"I want to get in as many games as possible as fast as possible just so Charlie knows I'm healthy and that he can rely on me," Lidge said. "Obviously, with what Antonio and Mad Dog [Madson] have done at the end of games, I hope that doesn't change because that means they'll continue to do what they've done so well. I want to be able to eventually get back to the late innings in the games and pitch in close games, but I know right now it'll just be a matter of getting my feet wet again and getting as many reps as possible. At this point I'll do whatever Charlie wants me to do.

"I'm willing to throw whenever, and obviously at this point it's the only choice I have."

Madson proved he could close games after taking over for Lidge with 15 saves in 16 opportunities. When Madson went on the DL with a bruised right hand, the lefthanded Bastardo became a revelation, nailing down all seven save opportunities in dominating fashion.

 Madson was activated July 15 and has pitched 32/3 innings in four appearances, including a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his 16th save on Friday. Manuel said he's not certain how Lidge will be used, but added: "I might use him in a lot of ways, but I'll use him."

Righthander Danys Baez was designated for assignment to make room for Lidge on the 25-man roster.

Lidge completed an eight-game rehabilitation stint between single-A Lakewood and double-A Reading. He pitched 72/3 innings and had 10 strikeouts and a 3.52 ERA. It remains to be seen whether Lidge can increase the velocity of his fastball, which consistently was below 90 m.p.h. during his rehab, but he said his slider, his out pitch, is working well.

"I was at about 89 and hitting 90 sometimes," he said. "When you get back to the big leagues, you jump up a click or two from the adrenaline. In terms of stuff, I feel I'm about where I want to be. My slider feels real good. I'm not going to be throwing in the mid-90s like I used to."

Lidge said he did some of his best pitching toward the end of last season, when his fastball topped out at 90, 91 m.p.h.

"My velocity was where it is now, he said. "You just better be able to pitch."

Roy Oswalt is optimistic he will return by early next month.

The righthander, who is on the DL with lower-back inflammation caused by bulging disks, said he felt no pain after throwing 47 pitches to batters from the mound Friday. He will throw a bullpen session Sunday and hopes to pitch a rehab assignment next week, perhaps as early as Wednesday.

Oswalt took breaks during his session to see how his back reacted when he returned to the mound.

"I wanted to be able to get up and down and throw 50 pitches," he said. "I got up and down three times, and I felt pretty well."

Oswalt, who went on the DL June 24 for the second time this season, said he was concerned when he still had back pain after an injection. But the pain subsided after another injection.

"The biggest thing is the last shot I got really didn't do anything, and I was just hoping the next one would take," he said. "It did."

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said a rehab assignment for Oswalt had not been scheduled.

Oswalt said he'll need no more than one rehab start.

"If he could start a rehab assignment, that would be fantastic," Amaro said. "He knows his body better than anyone else. We'll see. We've got to be cautious because we need him for the long haul."

Joe Blanton, who has pitched in six games this season for the Phils, will undergo more tests on his injured right elbow, hopefully by early next week, the righthander said.

"I think I'm just trying to stay attuned with what's going on," Blanton said. "But it feels the same as it did before. It's not, 'Oh, maybe you just have some soreness.' It's the same as it was. So the rest period didn't work, so we'll see where we go from here."

Blanton didn't know where this would put him as far as his timetable to return.

"It's hard to say right now, until the tests, until we figure out what's going on," he said.