It's May: Howard Heating Up?
Ryan Howard went 2 for 4 with a double, a home run and two RBIs in last night's 3-2 victory over the Padres. The big man is heating up.
It's May: Howard Heating Up?
Todd Zolecki
Let's take a look at Ryan Howard's career splits, which include last night's double and home run in a 3-2 victory over the Padres:
- March and April: .230 with 13 homers and 37 RBIs.
- May: .264 with 21 homers and 55 RBIs.
- June: .280 with 19 homers and 48 RBIs.
- July: .294 with 23 homers and 67 RBIs.
- August: .307 with 26 homers and 81 RBIs.
- September and October: .308 with 33 homers and 79 RBIs.
History shows the man starts very slowly and heats up as the season progresses, so there's no reason to think differently about this season until proven otherwise.
"I'm seeing the ball better," Howard said. "But to be able to come through in a situation like that, it only makes it that much better. When you're not seeing the ball, everything is tough. You don't feel good at all, and everything is just wrong. Now I'm starting to kind of see it, and I'm putting some good passes on it. Hopefully, the results will start to change a little bit."
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In the Phillies Notebook, Brett Myers is long tossing and studying film to find a way to pump up his fastball.
Oh, and he said he's not out of shape.
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Sports Illustrated ran a poll and ranked Citizens Bank Park the 10th best in baseball.
It ranked ballparks in 10 categories. Here is where the Bank ranked in those categories: affordability (13th), food (4th), team quality (9th), tradition (14th), atmosphere (7th), fan IQ (7th), hospitality (30th), promotions (10th), traffic (10th) and neighborhood (20th). Philadelphia continues to have a terrible reputation for its fans, but at least people love the food.
The magazine ranked ballparks in Cleveland, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Detroit and St. Louis in the top five. I question that list. A lot. Cleveland, Milwaukee, Detroit and St. Louis have nice parks, but they're not four of the five ballparks I would send somebody for the ultimate baseball roadtrip. Not even close.
Here's my top five:
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Wrigley Field.
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PNC Park
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AT&T Park
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Fenway Park
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Camden Yards
Wrigley and Fenway are old. They're cramped. Blah, blah, blah. But they're also freakin' sweet. PNC Park is probably the best park in baseball. Too bad they can't move the ballpark to a city with a better team, you know? There's just something cool about watching a game on the bay in San Francisco, which has great food stands in center field. And Camden Yards is still a great place to go. I think the Bank is right underneath those top five. It's just too bad they didn't put the ballpark in the city.
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Howsa 'bout Howard has 2 decent games in a row before all this nonsense? He was "heating up" last Saturday after he hit yet another solo HR - then went 1 for 9 in the next 3 games. Then he was "heating up" after Thursday - and has since struck out 4 of his next 6 at-bats. The fact is, he's terrible at this point, his conditioning (or lack of it) sucks, and, sorry, he's nowhere near the hitter he was in 2006. And again, gang, strikeouts really do matter. He makes the brass look smarter and smarter every day.— John in LA- Extraordinardy. Howard's last 5 of 7 are Ks. We're 31 games into the season - almost 20%. Maybe a few more days on the bench wouldn't hurt...— John in LA
- Maybe a trip to Reading would help!— Norma
- I think people are making too much out of Howard's slow start. He will heat up and when he does he will carry this team for weeks at a time. That is what power hitters have always done. http://myteamrivals.typepad.com/phightin_phils_phorum http://myteamrivals.typepad.com/turnpike_series— BillZe
- Sorry, Bill, almost 20% of the season is done. Been following so far? He hit under .220 for the first 2 months last year, and the 30-day stretch Utley was out last year. Again, are you watching the games? There's a pattern here. He's simply not as "great" as we all thought - or he seems to think he is. Because the truly "great" players in the game today - ARod and Pujols - don't have fundamental flaws in their game. Like Howard does. He strikes out 40% of the. That's almost unfathomable - in fact, a "great" player has never done that. Add that he can't run, throw or field...— John in LA
- Bill, not sure if anyone can be making too much of this many K's. Historically he heats up, so we all have that too look forward to (or hope for), but regardless, still waaaaaay too many strikeouts even when he is driving in runs. Noboby has more K's. What would be an overaction to someone striking out more than ANYONE...EVER...— phillybob
- It's time for Howard to spend 60 games with the Iron Pigs to strike out down there instead of at the Cit.— Nick from the Northeast
- Hellooooooooo out there!— Nick from the Northeast
- The arbitration hearing for Howard next year ought to be a lot of fun. Even if he hits 50 dingers, how do you explain away what will be a record ampont of K's and at this point, a solid month of no production?— jimmymack
