STANCING WITH THE STAR

CLEVELAND - Milt Thompson gets, well, demonstrative when he demonstrates hitting technique and method. That trait is exaggerated when he's talking about Ryan Howard.

"We're opening him up to close in," Thompson says.

Thompson assumes a batting stance, splays his front foot - his right foot - down the imaginary first-base line, mimicking what he has asked Howard to do in their recent sessions. The goals: To keep Howard from jumping at pitches too soon and to get him to see pitches longer, and therefore better.

Simply, to get Howard to look like his old self again.

It's working.

Howard is hitting .293 with 10 homers and 26 RBI in the 25 games since he came off the 15-day disabled list.

He was at .204 with six homers and 23 RBI in the 29 games before a nagging left thigh injury suffered in spring training sent him to the sideline.

The injury robbed from Howard the leg strength to assume his deep-knee bent, wide-open stance that helped make him the National League Rookie of the Year in 2005 and the MVP last season, his first full season in the majors.

Not coincidentally, Howard has been on a running, agility and core strength program he undertook as part of his DL rehabilitation track. Every other day he jogs and walks in intervals, then heads inside for agility work and core training.

"He's getting his legs back, no doubt," Thompson said.

"My leg definitely feels a lot better," Howard agreed.

The evidence has been overwhelming lately.

Howard hammered an opposite-field RBI double off lefthanded reliever Wilfredo Ledezma in the eighth inning of the Phillies' win Saturday over the Tigers.

Before that at-bat, against lefthanded pitching Howard was hitting .178 with four homers, three doubles and 15 RBI.

From that at-bat to today he's 6-for-13 with two homers, two doubles and six RBI. He just faced three lefty starters in Cleveland and he ripped an RBI double off one of the toughest lefties in the league, 10-game winner C.C. Sabathia.

"It definitely helps," Howard said of his exaggerated openness. "The more you can see, the longer you can see it, the better."

All along, Howard had insisted he would hit lefthanded pitching as soon as he'd seen enough of it. That rang hollow: He had 73 at-bats against lefties before he faced Ledezma.

That's because, Thompson said, it has been more than a mechanical fix that Thompson has worked on with Howard. The gist: take what comes, and don't try to catch up with MVP numbers like the .313 average, 58 homers and 149 RBI.

"I've been trying to keep in his head: If they're going to walk you, let them walk you," Thompson said. "He's been trying to get five hits in one at-bat."

That seemed to change, especially against Ledezma.

"Most definitely," Thompson said. "He stayed on that ball and hit it right through." *