|
Ryan Madson did not die as the title may suggest, and no it isn’t time to go into baseball mourning, but Phillies fans lost a piece of themselves when Madson agreed to terms with the Reds. Madson landing somewhere else was an inevitability once the Phillies signed Papelbon, but it still hurts a little to see him go. After a successful career spent entirely in a Phillies uniform, Madson deserves a proper sendoff. So, here’s a recap of Ryan Madson’s career in Philadelphia.
Ryan Madson’s Phillies career
Born and raised in southern California, Madson was drafted out of high school by the Phillies in the 9th round of the 1998 MLB draft. A starter throughout his minor league career, Madson got his chance in the big leagues in 2004 as a reliever.
Madson had a terrific rookie campaign in which he posted a 2.34 ERA in 52 games, but he followed up with a less than stellar 4.14 ERA in 2005. Madson returned to his familiar role as a starter to begin the 2006 season, but after a 6.28 ERA in 17 starts the Phillies realized it was a failed experiment. So, back to the pen he went. Madson excelled as a reliever with a 3.01 ERA as the Phillies’ setup man from 2007-2010.
Madson was a central piece of the Phillies bullpen and a huge part of the Phillies 2008 World Series title. During the 2008 playoffs, Madson posted a 2.21 ERA in 11 games and found some extra juice in his fastball, hitting as much as 97mph on the radar gun.
By 2009, Madson developed into one of the game’s top setup men, but as good as he was in the eighth inning, he was equally as poor in the ninth. Charlie Manuel gave Madson plenty of chances to close in 2009 and 2010, but for whatever reason Madson did not hack it as a closer. To make matters worse, Ryan missed ten weeks in 2010 with a broken toe after he kicked a chair following a blown save in San Francisco.
The Phillies had so little faith in Madson to finish games, they picked Jose Contreras over Madson as the Phillies closer entering the 2011 season. But a season ending injury to Contreras gave Madson one last chance. He did not disappoint this time around, converting 32 of 34 saves and finishing with a 2.34 ERA.
The end of the Madson era
Who knows exactly what went down during the negotiations between the Phillies, Madson, and Scott Boras, but another Phillies contract was not in the books. The Phillies signed Jonathan Papelbon to a four year contract and Madson eventually settled for a one year contract with the Reds.
Madson finished his Phillies career with a 47-30 record, 3.59 ERA, and 52 saves. When all is said and done, Madson is the team's all-time leader in relief appearances (473) and 3rd in games pitched (491). As Matt Gelb pointed out, only two guys named Robin Roberts and Steve Carlton ever stood on the mound more times as a Phillie than Madson. |
