Howard quietly stirring to life
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Howard quietly stirring to life
Ryan Lawrence
Roy Halladay was in the middle of talking about the balanced, one-through-nine offensive attack from the Phillies last night, a performance he called the best of the season, when he decided to single one player out.
"Howie - I feel like he's really been swinging the bat better in the last few days," Halladay said.
"Howie," of course is Ryan Howard. The same Ryan Howard who was mired in a nightmare of a slump during the last Phillies homestand.
Quietly, the big piece at the center of the Phillies batting order has stirred to life lately. Yes, he homered on Monday; but he also collected his third straight two-hit game.
In his last 12 games, Howard is hitting .347 with a 1.058 OPS, four doubles, four home runs and 13 RBIs.
An encouraging sign of his return was the respect the Reds showed him Monday: Howard was intentionally walked in the fifth inning. The free pass was followed by a John Mayberry Jr. run-scoring single in the midst of an inning that saw the Phils bat around and score four times.
Howard has come a long way in the last two weeks.
On August 5, in the middle of a stretch that saw him hit .150 (6-for-40) with 20 strikeouts in an 11-game stretch, Howard was on the other end of the intentional walk. With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, the Arizona Diamondbacks walked Chase Utley intentionally to take their chances with Howard.
Howard responded with the game-ending hit.
Since that walk-off single, Howard is hitting .321 (17-for-53), raising his season average from .198 to .254.
"I think he’s getting to play more," manager Charlie Manuel said of Howard, who missed spring training and the first four months of the season while recovering from left Achilles surgery.
"And the more he gets to play," Manuel continued, "he’s playing himself into good condition, good shape and he’s getting his swings. He’s getting his swing back, his timing and everything. He missed spring training. And there’s a big difference between playing in Clearwater in the A-league and in the major leagues – the pitching is better. (The pitching is) sharper, the command’s better, everything about it is better. It’s a faster game."
let's also remember, he's not even 100%.— AlexSp- he's coming off a torn achilles for f**k's sake...give him some time.— AlexSp
- Trade him now while you have the chance!!!!— Joe Vegas
- Howard was said to be approximately 85% of his usual self when he came back to the Phils from the DL. Carefully watching his progress, I'd say he's at 90% right now. This respite has allowed him to develop a different plate discipline. He appears to be seeing the ball better and showing more patience at the plate. He has hit a few nice homers since he returned and most of his long balls have been by virtue of his hand, wrists and arms with much less contribution from his feet, ankles and legs. My prediction is that Ryan Howard will be the Comeback Player of the Year in 2013 and that the Phils will pick up where they left off in 2008.— onthebucks
- It's all about next year for Howard. His injury always required at least a full year for him to start getting back to what he's capable of. Everyone just wanted to believe otherwise.— s
- onthebucks-I think he's closer to 87.29%— PsychoPathetic1
- Glad to see some positive and accurate comments here for a change. It takes a year to recover from an achilles tear. Just ask Demarco Ryans— bobf876
- Lee and Halladay, with 9 wins combined need to worry about themselves, RH will be fine.....Hamels with 14 wins has put these two overpaid guys to shame. It's easy to talk of other's performances to deflect from your own shabby play, all season.— boasocal
- I knew he was still hurting from the achilles. He is the man the Phillies feed off of. Next year Ryan will be a beast.— grimm39
- I've seen him lay off the low, away sliders. Now that is encouraging!— verve
- "Howard Quietly Stirring to Life"......Seriously??? He's hitting .254 with only 8 home runs. So he's hit a hot streak at the moment....so what? To say it's a sign he's coming to life is QUITE A STRETCH.— ANGRY AL 2
- You're being ludicrous. Just say you do not like Ryan Howard it would be more subtle than your rant above. You have to consider the situation before you reach your predisposed conclusion. Refer to name. — bpositiv
- "Howard Quietly Stirring to Life"......Seriously??? He's hitting .254 with only 8 home runs. So he's hit a hot streak at the moment....so what? To say it's a sign he's coming to life is QUITE A STRETCH.— ANGRY AL 2
- It will take Ryan Howard the rest of this season, then Spring training to get back to being the real Ryan Howard. Insofar the "estimates" of where he is, that is the sheerest nonsense. At some point after Spring Training he is likely to be as close the the real Ryan Howard as he will ever be. Just happy to see the boo boo birdies haven't had a chance to start chirping as yet!— BEMiller
- As close to the real RH as he will ever be is about right and I suspect it will be the same RH that Chris Carpenter was laughing at the at bat before he got hurt. You remember that ,right? The one where he had a 3-0 count in a one zip elimination ball game and swung at ball four and the SO. That picture is seared in my mind and I am hoping against hope that in the rest of the rehab he will change his approach back from dead pull hitter to what he was before Barry Bonds ruined him. He needs to be RH of old and hit to all fields for average and power and move up at the plate instead of the BB style of trying to hit thru the shift. Maybe he should look at Big Papi tapes and see his approach and erase the BB approach from his mind. He could have been the greatest of all time and why he refuses to return to what worked so well for him is just mind numbing.
— DUDESKINS
