Mackanin: Howard will sit if he doesn't hit

In about a month, when Ryan Howard reports to Clearwater, Fla., for his final spring training with the Phillies, another in a long series of uncomfortable conversations awaits him. If he wants to play, manager Pete Mackanin will tell Howard, he will have to hit better. Forget Howard's special place in franchise history and the fact that he will represent one-fourth of the entire Phillies payroll in 2016.

At least that is what Mackanin promised Tuesday as he addressed reporters at Citizens Bank Park.

Awkward, right?

"You bet," Mackanin said. "It's going to be a difficult situation. But decisions have to be made. And I have to do what I think is best for the organization and the team."

Howard, 36 and in the final season of a five-year, $125 million contract, is still here. No one wanted to trade for him. The Phillies refused to release him.

Mackanin labeled it "a hairy situation." He spoke Tuesday of a desire to see Darin Ruf play more often but was careful with his words. Maybe, with a new regime and a different direction, the talk of reducing Howard's playing time - if he is unproductive - is more than talk.

But it is a familiar refrain.

"I'm going to make that decision in the spring," Mackanin said. "But I'm going to have a discussion with Ryan. I'm going to tell him, 'If you want to face lefties, you have to hit them better. If you don't hit them better, I'm going to platoon.' That's basically what we're looking at. It's gotten to that point."

In reality, Howard was platooned last season. He started in 10 of the 38 games in which the Phillies faced a lefty. Just four of those starts came after Mackanin took over the manager's job from Ryne Sandberg in late June.

Howard's .418 on-base-plus-slugging percentage against lefthanders last season was the lowest for a Phillies hitter with at least 100 plate appearances vs. lefties since 1914. That is the kind of number that calls for a manager to actively avoid the matchup at all costs.

Had the Phillies done that in 2015, it would have resulted in another 20 percent decrease to Howard's playing time. So there are additional measures Mackanin can enact.

Ruf posted a 1.107 OPS in 114 plate appearances against lefties. That tied Seattle's Nelson Cruz for the best mark in baseball, and it was a statistic that Mackanin cited Tuesday.

"It's hard for me to justify not playing a guy who led in OPS in the major leagues against lefthanded pitchers, and that's Darin Ruf," Mackanin said. "It's hard for me not to play that guy, when that guy is sitting there. And it could be helpful to Ryan because he is getting a little bit older.

"I'm not totally committed to any of that, but that's the way I'm leaning."

Mackanin said he will use Howard's at bats in Grapefruit League play to determine his plan. Ruf's output against righties last season was almost as bad as Howard's problems vs. lefties, but Mackanin said the 29-year-old Nebraskan has yet to have a fair shot.

"He would hit better against righthanders if he got more at bats consistently against them," Mackanin said of Ruf. "But that means you'd have to go all-in with that kind of solution, and we still have Ryan Howard to consider."

It's just that those considerations are more uncomfortable than ever for a team looking toward the future.

mgelb@philly.com

@MattGelb