Howard becomes 15th Phillie on DL
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Howard becomes 15th Phillie on DL
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. --At first, there was optimism. On Sunday, Ryan Howard left Nationals Park on crutches with a sprained left ankle but both Howard and Charlie Manuel said going on the disabled list was unlikely.
One night took care of that.
Howard woke up Monday morning in Florida to a great deal of swelling, so much that when Howard and Phillies athletic trainer Scott Sheridan tried to do work on Howard's ankle at Sun Life Stadium during the team's off day. The swelling was so bad, Sheridan stopped. He sent Howard back to Philadelphia for an exam by team physician Michael Ciccotti on Tuesday.
It revealed exactly what the Phillies had feared: Howard has a serious enough sprain that will require a trip to the disabled list.
Incredibly, Howard is the 15th Phillies player to go on the disabled list. His injury means the entire opening day infield has gone to the DL at one point during the 2010 season. Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez are the lone regulars to not require the disabled list.
The Phillies have recalled outfielder John Mayberry Jr. from triple-A Lehigh Valley. He will be available for Wednesday's game.
Howard is eligible to return Aug. 17. Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Howard does not have a high ankle sprain, like the one that kept Jimmy Rollins out for three weeks in 2008.
"We're hopeful he'll be back in two weeks," Amaro said. "It may be longer than that. We're not sure. It depends on how quickly he heals."
The two sprained ligaments are on the lateral, or outside part of Howard's ankle. It is not a severe sprain because ligaments on the inner part of the ankle were not affected.
"That's the positive news," Amaro said. "It could have been much worse."
But it's bad enough. Howard's 81 RBIs lead the National League. His current .292 batting average would be his highest in a season since 2006, when he hit .313.
Without Howard, the Phillies will probably cobble together a platoon at first base, or play whoever is hot. Manuel has his choice between Ross Gload, Cody Ransom and Mayberry, who took grounders at first base on Tuesday with Lehigh Valley. Mayberry has not played first base since 2008, when he was at triple-A Oklahoma in Texas' organization. And it was only four games.
But Amaro said he could be a possibility at first. Mayberry is a righthanded hitter, unlike Andy Tracy and Matt Rizzotti, who are both lefties. The Phillies already have a lefthanded-heavy bench. Ross Gload figures to receive most of the starts at first when a righthander is pitching.
Against lefty Sean West tonight, Cody Ransom starts at first base.
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why isn't ruiz hitting 4th when he leads the team in obp & ops? time for lineup # 69.— cowpoke
The team is not old, except for Ibanez. At 30 a player is still in his prime. Hopefully, the team will still be in striking distance when Victorino, Utley and Howard get back. I like their chances if Oswalt can pitch the way he is capable of pitching. Gload is a good player, he is a better fill in then some of the guys that have already been used a lot. Mayberry is outfield depth, and a righty bat off the bench.- So far this season the Phillies have been without their starting infield for at least 114 days: Rollins out 58 days, Polanco 31, Utley 22, now Howard 3 and counting. I don't knw how many games were played in those 114 days but it's a miracle that they're only 3 games out of 1st place. Valdez, Ransome and Castro (who's gone) did a fine job filling in. Barring further injury, by Sept. 1 we'll begin to coast to winning the division.— 1republican
- Mayberry cannnot hit a breaking ball, thats why at 26 or 27 he is still stuck in AAA.— mick314
- Phan you forgot the 31 playoff games they have played on top of it. Takes its toll. Theyve basically had one less month the last 3 years than everyone else to recuperate in the offseason. To be where they are is remarkable— seaonasdad
- i cheered when irvin got hurt. and when he got busted with concubines and blow.— bigsteve
- Who in the Phillies organization actually makes the final decision to DL a player? Help me understand. Howard has a "mild" ankle sprain, all x-rays and the MRI were negative, so he is shut down for 15 days?? Is this a case of being overly cautious (to the team's detriment) to protect the monetary investment, some physician seizing an opportunity to provide "treatment" and send a fat bill to the Phillies, or is Howard just a wimp? It seems to me that the Phillies pull the DL trigger a little too quickly!— Cornwall Citizen
- all is well with the world. 2 gb. wow. it's funny that frenchy who has been awful lately homers off billy wagner in the 9th. thanks mets!— liberty_bell
- Frenchy homers off Wagner...gotta love seeing the Braves lose. Braves are folding folks..no worries.— GAphil
- Baseball players are bunch of babies. One little stratch or pull they are on the DL list!!— joeynick
get mike lowell..wolf— wolf 4- Get Ryan some hi-tops.— Apache9
- Knebman, have you ever seen Dunn play the outfield?— baseman
- Can you say "Welcome Manny"!— JBP
- Trade for Adam Dunn now that he is on waivers.......play him til howard gets back and then play him in the outfield. Imagine a lineup of Rollins, Polanco, Utley, Howard, Werth, Dunn, Brown, and Ruiz!!— knebman
Comment removed.- Wish they would give Rizzotti a chance. Pitchers don't have the book on him yet, plus we can showcase him now and trade him in the offseason for some MUCH NEEDED bullpen help.— mikemimbs
- yeah, amaro said in another interview: "injuries happen. they are part of the game that's out of your control." ... except for when you play starters 150+ games a year for half a decade, sign veterans like polanco and ibanez to fill gaps, and field an every day line-up with all 8 players 30+, and with an average age of 32. but other than intentionally fielding the oldest line-up in the national league, injuries are totally and completely out of your control ...— PhillyPhan4for4
- Comment removed.
- @wyoming guy, brady who?— Elgion
- I know some morons cheered when Michael Irvin got hurt, but I don't recall anyone cheering when Brady got hurt.— phillyinsd
- Our biggest loss are the 2-3 strikeouts per game.— jalinsgs
- BOB65S, don't bring that up. when brady got injured we all cheered and you know it.— wyoming_guy
- Their only real comp left in the NL East is the Bravos and they're no joke. I'm pulling for this red & gray machine but there are doubts with so many going down this season. Like I said many times, when we make it through this it will be all the more to rave about, overcoming so many hurdles and let downs to get back in the running anyway, never say die, no matter what I'm not, I'll be there with them until the end.— J-Joe
- Hopefully, this little preview of 2013 we are enjoying today will be good enough until everyone gets back. Remarkably, this team is still right in the thick of the playoff race.— HitsLikeAGurlBurrel
- all of you so called front running Braves fan trolls are classless for cheering an injury to a player.— Bob65S
lucky they are in the NL EAST, they still can win the division— primo- YES!!! BUT, THEY WON'T MAKE THE PLAYOFFS.— Edae
