Philadelphia Phillies: Five Areas Where They Need Improvement
By Chuck Booth
Ryan Howard has had his moments for the Philadelphia Phillies but maybe it’s time to move on.
Phillies fans love and appreciate what Ryan Howard has done for the Philadelphia Phillies. But his current performance make’s it hard to appreciate the past. Howard’s 154/.219/.346 slash line is ugly and with every hit or great play made by Tommy Joseph the dissent towards playing Ryan Howard grows stronger. On a winning team it’s not what have you done for me but what can you do for me right now. And Ryan Howard isn’t doing much right now.
Manager Pete Mackanin was asked about Howards playing time after yesterday’s game when he sat versus a right-hander for the second straight day. Mackanin responded saying,
"“We brought Joseph up here for a reason, to get a look at him, I can’t let him stagnate on the bench like (Darin) Ruf ended up doing, so he’s going to face some right-handed pitchers to keep his timing. I don’t know when the next time we’re going to face a left-handed pitcher is, but I’m going to use (Joseph) a little bit more often than I did Ruf.”"
Basically, Mackanin recognizes that Tommy Joseph is the future of the Phillies at first base so he won’t cut his playing time in the way that he cut Darin Ruf‘s. Mackanin also recognizes what Ryan Howard has done for the team which is why he was given such a long leash. Howard has used his entire leash up with his performance leaving Mackanin with no choice but to move on.
Mackanin followed up his comments above when he was asked about how Howard feels about sitting by saying,
"“I’m sure we’ll talk to him and we’ll go from there. The important thing is that we brought Joseph up here to get a look at him, and as I said, if he sits on the bench for a week or 10 days and we don’t get a look at him, what’s the point of bringing him up?”"
The Phillies may not be able to trade Ryan Howard but the time to move on is now.
Next: The Adam Morgan Experiment