It’s one big “no duh” that the Phillies haven’t quite looked like the Phillies all season.

Well, ever since Jimmy Rollins went down, the team has resembled some kind of warped edition of the 2009 Mets.

J-Roll might not be back until mid-May (ugh), but Joe Blanton and is on his way.

What about Brad Lidge? He’s probably the most important pitcher on the staff. We can overrated Cole Hamels all we want… the guy is what he is – a No. 2 starter at best, but never an ace.

Lidge, though, is a bigger question mark.

He returns to the bullpen Friday. Now that he’s back, Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero can go back to playing set up men; Chad Durbin and Danys Baez the middle relief.

Everything, at long last, is beginning to take shape.

We don’t need a 2008 Brad Lidge. Please, not a 2009 version, either ….

Somewhere in between, perhaps. If Lidge can shows flashes of 2008, the Phils are in good shape.

But ’09 is still fresh in everybody’s mind.

And he still scares the living &^%$ out of me each time he takes the hill….

The injury bug  could take another bite out of the Phillies rotation.

According to CSNPhilly.com, J.A. Happ could miss his next scheduled start Wednesday against Atlanta.

Happ is dealing with forearm stiffness.

If Happ doesn’t pitch, it’s likely the Phils will go with Nelson Figueroa, who has been a pleasant surprise since being acquired on waivers at the end of spring training.

Joe Blanton (strained oblique) is slated to return in about two weeks. If Happ misses significant time, the starting rotation would include Kyle Kendrick, Jamie Moyer and Figueroa as the Nos. 3, 4 and 5.

Joe Blanton is headed to the disabled list for at least three weeks with a left oblique strain.

“If all goes well we’re looking at the earliest at the third week of April,” team physician Dr. Michael Ciccotti told Delcotimes.com. “He’s much better today, he’s much more comfortable. He’s on his anti-inflammatory medicines and we’ll continue with him on exercises. We’ll hold him off until throwing until next Thursday at the earliest and then we’ll progress him as tolerated.”

Kyle Kendrick is expected to take Blanton’s place in the rotation.

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Meanwhile, Brad Lidge received another cortisone shot in his ailing right elbow.

This is a terrible, terrible sign. Cortisone shots are basically looked as last-ditch efforts to save a guy’s elbow. They are more frequently received late in the year, when a pitcher is simply trying to “get through” the final few weeks.

If I had to predict right now, I’d say that Lidge misses 85 percent of the season.

This could go from bad to worse in a hurry.

Shane Victorino, along with Joe Blanton, is here to stay awhile.

The All-Star center fielder joined Blanton in signing a three-year contract extension Friday, wiping out his final year of arbitration eligibility plus two years of free agency.

Victorino’s contract will pay him $22 million over three years.

The Phillies’ last arbitration case is Carlus Ruiz, whom they are expected to sign to a multi-year deal.

Joe Blanton and the Phillies agreed to terms on a three-year, $28 million contract extension Thursday.

Blanton would have been a free agent after this season. He was seeking $10.25 million in final year of arbitration.

The Phillies had been in talks with Shane Victorino regarding a multi-year deal. Now, it appears, both Carlos Ruiz and Joe Blanton are being targeted for extensions, too.

All three players are arbitration eligible.

Blanton would be a free agent after this season, while Victorino wouldn’t be a free agent until after the 2011 campaign. Ruiz, 30, is arbitration eligible for the first time.

It was reported Tuesday and confirmed Wednesday that Joe Blanton is commanding a ridiculous salary increase for the 2010 season.

The burly right-hander is seeking $10.25 million. The Phillies countered with $7.5 million.

Is Blanton a workhorse? Yes. Was he arguably the Phillies’ best starting pitcher for the ENTIRE SEASON in 2009? Yes. Should the Phillies offer him an attractive raise from his $5.457 million last year? Yes.

Should it be $10.25? No, but somewhere between $6.5-7.0 million seems right.

Is Joe Blanton on the same planet as Tim Lincecum, who is seeking $13 million? Absolutely not.

I can see Heavy B’s positioning here. The Phils basically paid Brett Myers roughly $10 million a year for three seasons, and isn’t Blanton better than Myers??? Yep.

At the same time, the fact is, Joe Blanton is not worth that much.

Pedro Martinez remains interested in a return to the Phillies.

The three-time Cy Young award winner told the Associated Press Saturday, “(The Phillies) treated me very well and they were very professional. They will always have the door open.”

While the Phillies will passively attempt to upgrade their starting rotation, the focus during the offseason is the bullpen. As it stands now, the Phillies’ rotation consists of Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ and Joe Blanton next year. It’s very possible that Jamie Moyer returns, if deemed healthy, or top pitching prospect Kyle Drabek wins a job out of spring training.

Chances Pedro is a Phillie next year are slim and none.

Also, I absolutely do not expect them to empty the farm system for Roy Halladay or sign second-tier starting pitchers, such as Jason Marquis or Randy Wolf …

The Dud

Repeat offender.

Brad Lidge gave up three runs — all with two outs — in the ninth inning. Game over.

The Story/The Turning Point

Lidge allowed Johnny Damon to battle back from a 1-2 count. With two outs and nobody on base, Lidge kept firing fastball after fastball — completely neglecting his slider — until Damon finally whacked one to the outfield for a base hit. That opened the door for the Yankees…

Damon stole second base and kept running to third. Nobody was covering third because Feliz was manning second base as Jimmy Rollins was on the other side of the bag, playing the shift against Mark Teixeira. Lidge SHOULD have ran to third to take the place of Feliz. Instead, Damon made it to third uncontested.

Huge mistake.

Teixeira walked and Alex Rodriguez delivered the big blow — a run-scoring double to left field. Jorge Posada put the nail in the coffin with a two-run single.

Trailing 4-2 in the seventh inning, Chase Utley smashed a solo homer off CC Sabathia to cut the deficit to one. Pedro Feliz hit the game-tying homer off Joba Chamberlain in the eighth.

It was at that moment you thought the Phillies would pull it out and even the series. Even more encourgaging was seeing Lidge breeze through the first two batters in the ninth.

Those damn Yankees are good.

You can hate them all you want, but you got to respect them. They’ve had an answer for everything in this series, sans Game 1.

You can question what the hell Lidge was doing throwing Damon fastball after fastball when his slider was working so well. But, at the same time, the Yankees find ways to get it done, much like the Phillies had done earlier in the playoffs.

Also, you can question why Joe Blanton started in place of Cliff Lee. I wrote on Saturday that Charlie Manuel opting to go with Blanton over Lee could result in a short series. It sure is turning out that way.

To his credit, Blanton kept the Phillies in the game. He allowed four runs over six innings. Not Cliff Lee-like, but he was solid. Sabathia was there for the taking, but the Phillies did not capitalize. One too many guys were left stranded on base …

Again, I can’t give enough credit to the Yankees. They are a championship team and are the better team right now. There’s nothing wrong with admitting that and it doesn’t mean we can”t make an epic comeback.

The Next Game

Lee pitches against AJ Burnett in Game 5 Monday night. I would love to see one last dominant performance by Lee to send the series to New York. I can’t stand the thought of seeing them win it on our home turf.

Then again, I’m not ready to count out the Phillies. This is a resilent team. Maybe Lee can take the life out of the Yankees’ bats.

There’s no sense in giving up now.

World Series Game 4

Phillies vs. Yankees

7:57 PM EST at Citizens Bank Park

Ryan Howard needs to heat up in Game 4

No analysis is necessary. This is the Phillies’ first must-win situation in the postseason since the 2007 NLDS, when they trailed Colorado, 2-0.

Actually, the Phillies hadn’t allowed their opponent to win two games in ANY series since the 2007 NLDS.

But… who really cares about that…

Whether we like it or not, Joe Blanton is taking the bump. CC Sabathia throws on three-days rest for the Yankees.

While Cliff Lee would be the  preferred choice, Blanton has been consistently strong all season. He hasn’t pitched much in the postseason, and got his first start in the NLCS, allowing three runs over six innings. That would be the type of outing to expect tonight  for the Phillies to have hope. Blanton has to be workmanlike and keep his team in the game.

Sabathia hasn’t pitched in Philadelphia since Game 2 of the 2008 NLDS. We all remember what happened …

We’ll see what happens tonight…