Before last night's game in San Francisco, Ryan Howard told me his left quadriceps has been sore and stiff since spring training. Players have aches and pain all the time, especially over the course of a 162-game season. But Howard, who took a .198 average into the game, sounded different.He sounded worried.
Howard sounded like, if the problem persists, he may have to go on the disabled list. He said it has affected his hitting because he's having trouble shifting his weight from his left (back) leg to his right leg. Anyone who knows anything about hitting knows that's a big problem.
"It gets better and better, and then it gets worse," Howard said. "Just as far as getting comfortable in the box, I can feel it. When I get into a squat position, I can feel it tighten up some. If it keeps nagging, we'll get to the point where we want to get it looked at."
Well, it's reached that point.
Howard wasn't in the lineup tonight at Arizona against lefty Doug Davis, and he won't start tomorrow night or Wednesday (against lefty Randy Johnson) either. On Friday, after the Phillies return home, he'll have his quad examined by team physician Michael Ciccotti. Howard was asked last night if going on the DL might help the injury heal. "Maybe it could, I don't know," he said. "Once we see what's going on with it, we'll have a better idea."
The Phillies came into tonight's game with a 14-17 record. They're already trailing the Mets and Braves in the NL East. If Howard goes on the DL, things may only get worse. But he may need to go on the DL to let his quad heal in order to help the team.
You be the GM. What should the Phils do?
4 comments:
Put him on the DL, let him get better. Is losing a .200 hitter with 3 hr's hurting this team? No. Would a .300 hitter with 10 hr's help this team? Yes. Let the man get better. I've never seen any sense in asking people to play hurt.
Put him on the DL. I'd rather see Burell take his chances than have a hurt Howard come in and pinch hit.
Same old Phillies. Wake me up when they sell the team.
Seems as though both management and the players have a big problem with the truth when it comes to injuries. Typical Philadelphian thing - lack of honesty.
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