Howard to begin rehab assignment
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Howard to begin rehab assignment
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
As expected, Ryan Howard will begin his rehab assignment this weekend. He'll play first for single-A Lakewood on Friday. If that goes well, he could spend Saturday and Sunday at triple-A Lehigh Valley before being activated Monday.
Should Howard, who has been out since spraining his left ankle Aug. 1 in Washington, return Monday, it will be exactly three weeks of recovery.
Friday should be a different sort of night for Howard. Prior to the game in Lakewood, the BlueClaws will retire Howard's No. 29 he wore while playing for the team in 2002. He will be the first former BlueClaws player to have his number retired by the team.
The jersey retirement was originally scheduled for Thursday, September 2, but was postponed because the Phillies will now make up a previously postponed game in Colorado on that date.
With Lakewood in 2002, Howard hit .280 with 19 home runs and 87 RBI. It's the second time he returns to Lakewood for a rehab assignment -- he also played there in 2007.
When Howard returns Monday, Domonic Brown will probably head back to triple-A Lehigh Valley for a few weeks of regular playing time.
Pretty good article , but I'm guessing that by "postponed" you mean "moved up to August 20"; postponed implies that it will be scheduled after September 2. And by a 'few weeks' of playing time for Brown , you mean about 9 days, the time between Monday of next week and September 1, when rosters expand.— drbob1- I think he should wear #29 for that game, for old time's sake.— FireTMac&Wheeler!
- What if you had tickets to the September 2nd game? That would be bad.— nilsen
- Get a life, drbob. Dork.— UncleEddie
- I know of people that deuced in pizza boxes for Uncle Eddie— Captain
- Why not send Baez down so that Brown can be on your playoff roster. No one has answered that question! If he doesn't have options, he can accept or reject the assignment. If he rejects, he becomes a free agent. And, we don't have to pay his salary. When exactly will Baez pitch for them in the playoffs? I know we will use Brown, even if it is only as a pinch runner.— madecaro
- No, drbob, the jersey retirement was originally scheduled for 9/2, but it was postponed when the Phillies had a make-up game scheduled that day (meaning Howard wouldn't be able to attend the ceremony). Now that he'll be in Lakewood this week, they've rescheduled it. In other words, get a life— Potus415
- @madecaro, Baez has a guaranteed contract. The Phillies are responsible for his contract through 2011 whether he plays for them or not. It's not clear on what basis you write "we don't have to pay his salary" if he becomes a free-agent. Baez is the mop-up guy now, and since the Phillies are paying him anyway, he's fine for that role.— smel4727
- Hey Moron "Leave in the 7th inning" Phillies fans aren't you excited!!! The team's doing great and they're going to get their big guy back soon. Go Phightins'!!!!— Phillyexp
- Baez is the 2010 version of Adam Eaton. In other words, money down the toilet.— SteveS11
- The Braves lost today! Thanks Nats. Lets get some runs for Cole tonight and pick up some ground. Go Phils!!— Bob65S
- You don't have to be on the big league roster on sept 1 to be on the post season roster anymore. As long as the player is in the organization by Sept 1.
- Brown will be on the playoff roster. Starting 8 plus Schneider, Sweeney, Gload, Valdez, Francisco & Brown (14). 11 pitchers Roy 1 & 2, Oswalt, KK (can pitch from pen), Durbin, Contreras, JC, Madson, Lidge, then fill in the blanks - Blanton, Baez, Bastardo, Escalona or Zagurski as insurance left arms in the pen (or the return of jamie Moyer?) - take your pick of two. (My money would be on Blanton & Baez, but who knows?) Brown goes to the playoffs, not Dobbs.— Ed3
- Ed3, Roy 1 & 2 would be Halladay and Oswalt. I think you meant Hamels but said Oswalt twice.— buttermilk67
- @uncleeddie,potus415: 'Postponed' generaly means called off and rescheduled for a LATER date. Like 'todays game has been postponed and will be made up as a DH on September 29'for example. Yes, once they couldn't go with Sept 2, it had to be rescheduled, could have been sooner, could have been later , but since it was sooner, "postponed" isn't really the right word. By the way uncle eddie , you shouldn't be so offended by people with IQ's over 40. Maybe it's you who needs to get a life, maybe "captain" is right, who knows?. I was just having some fun with the writer, most guys that correct something about the article don't start with something positive. I actually think Gelb is a very good writer, and I don't make token statements about everyone being a bad writer like some posters,and I don't say 'no wonder the paper went bankrupt', and all that other nonsense. I'm actually glad the ceremony was moved up/rescheduled/taking place earlier than planned, because once it gets close to playoff time, little ceremonial things tend to get lost. I'm also glad Brown won't be away for a few weeks since they could use him.— drbob1
