Lidge Comes Home, Brings Hurting Elbow With Him

Brad Lidge’s return to the Phillies bullpen could have been short lived.

The Phillies’ closer was expected back in Philly Wednesday to have his right pitching elbow examined by team doc Michael Ciccotti, the team told NBC Philadelphia Sports.

The Phillies were set to play a doubleheader in Colorado Wednesday without Lidge. The righty started the season on the disabled list after offseason knee and elbow surgery.

"Everything seemed to be progressing right," Lidge said to NBC Philadelphia's John Clark when he arrived back in Philly Wednesday afternoon.

It wasn't clear how badly Lidge was hurting.

"It's definitely frustrating right now," Lidge told Clark. "If it's something that we we can deal with very quickly than I will actually be relieved."

"A couple days (in Philly) to figure out what it is -- maybe have a real quick treatment on it," Lidge said.

Lidge wasn’t able to pitch Monday night because of elbow stiffness. His last appearance was a 1-2-3 save -- featuring two deep fly ball outs -- Sunday against the Braves.

In Lidge’s absence Jose Contreras closed things out -- a possible sign of who will be handling closing duties should Lidge land back on the DL.

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