Howard not in lineup
A day after going ballistic and being ejected in the 14th inning of the Phillies' 4-2 loss, Ryan Howard is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game.
Howard not in lineup
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
A day after going ballistic and being ejected in the 14th inning of the Phillies' 4-2 loss, Ryan Howard is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game.
Howard, as of yet, has not been suspended by Major League Baseball for his actions Tuesday. For now, it appears this is a day off for the first baseman to collect his thoughts and rest.
Howard was 0 for 7 with five strikeouts Tuesday -- the most strikeouts he's ever had in a game. In fact, he tied a franchise record and was just the seventh Phillie to ever strikeout five times in a game. The others:
Pat Burrell, Sept. 16, 2008
Jim Thome, July 2, 2004
Scott Rolen, Aug. 23, 1999
Darren Daulton, April 16, 1991
Larry Hisle, May 28, 1970
Dick Allen, June 28, 1964
Rolen, Hisle and Allen each did it in just five at-bats.
The rest of the lineup that will face former Phillie J.A. Happ:
1. Jimmy Rollins SS
2. Shane Victorino CF
3. Placido Polanco 3B
4. Chase Utley 2B
5. Jayson Werth RF
6. Mike Sweeney 1B
7. Ben Francisco LF
8. Carlos Ruiz C
9. Roy Halladay P
Howard was already in a slump even before he got injured. Its probably a good idea to let him cool his heels tonight against a left hander. He may get a few more days to do that once MLB hands him a suspension for his actions. Maybe its my imagination but Howard is looking like he's lost a lot of his power this year. Balls that in the past would have been homeruns are now being caught on the warning track. Maybe he should gain back the weight he lost last winter. He was becoming the best $20 million dollar singles hitter in the league before he stopped getting any hits at all.— SteveS11- The ump was wrong in the first place....! Don't matter, these guys can't hit the ball... Can't hit in the clutch. I love the Phils, but this is not their year. The Braves are not going to let B. Cox retire without going out as a winner. The Braves pound the ball!! We swing and miss...sorry but that's the way I feel and I've been a Phillies fan since 1947. I can read these guys like a book. Go Phils...do something for the city!— Lynnwood
- Right on philly_mike!!!— Phillyaviator37
- Seems like a bright move to leave him out of the lineup. He would have gotten ejected just for taking his spot at first base.— redscarf
- phillies need offense bad!! i dont understand why some people always want werth to ride the bench he is batting 300 2nd highest on the team behind polanco yes he had a blonde moment and got picked off by at least he is hitting the ball ,as far as howard he still healing he came back sooner than expected so sitting may help him however i hadnt been to impressed with sweeney so dont look for any mircles— kay4phils
- Howard should have had some minor league games before he was activated. He was slumping before he got hurt. Utley worries me a bit. Before he got hurt, he seemed to have found his swing, boosted his avg. from .257 to .275, and had his compact swing. I'm concerned a hand injury could affect his hitting for a while. Not much bat speed and little power at all. But he's already made 2 great, heads-up defensive plays so far.— ijj
- @cemego...what was JC's strikeouts to walks on water ratio?— dasher
- Werth is always swinging for the fences when all he needed was a single with guys on 2nd and 3rd for two RBI's. This team is a joke, the biggest problem are the guys making 15million a year plus. 3,4 and 5 hitters arent even making productive outs. Utley hits a shallow pop up with one out and runners at 2nd and 3rd. Totally inexcusable,Utley's swing looks weak.I dont know but Phils hitters look like they are coming over of steroids or something. Werth might be hitting close to 300 but he never drives anybody in and I think he leads the MLB in solo HR's. The Phils pitching is good enough where they dont need power hitters in the 3,4 and 5 holes,just guys who do OK with RISP,thats why they were winning games. Sweeney and Gload werent trying to hit 5run HR's every swing and they were working counts. Utley Howard and Werth should just try working on making contact and maybe the power will come back on its own. I thought GG was a contact guy. Oh yea, I hate Victorino's loopy swing,Victorino and Rollins should only be trying to hit grounders and linedrives because they are the "speed" part of the Line up but what do I know. ITs been a hard year to be a fan with these awful slumps they get into but hey I said as soon as Vic,Utley and Howard come back, that one of those horrible slumps was coming with them. TOO many guys came back at once off of DL, they should have been worked in better,what was the rush? The reserves got them back into the Pennant chase!
- Told you it wasn't a bright idea putting Utley in the 4 hole against Happ. But I guess I'm the dumb one.— EL Zorro
