Ryan Howard returned to Philadelphia today to have his ankle looked at, and the results are in. Despite having negative x-rays, the Phils' slugger is still going to be placed on the 15 day disabled list, according to Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com. John Mayberry, Jr has been called up to take Howard's place until he is ready to go again.
I said this during Sunday's recap, but Howard's injury might be the most devastating yet. Yes, Howard was slumping before his injury, but before that, he was the only reason why the Phillies even had a chance in the National League East, at least at the plate. With Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz and Shane Victorino all spending time on the disabled list this season, and Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth hitting rough patches, Howard was the only starter that seemed to have his act together this entire season. Now, he's hurt and joins Utley and Victorino on the disabled list. In case you didn't notice, that's now six of the eight regular starters for the Phillies that have now spent time on the disabled list. Injuries have killed this team this season, and yet, they still have a chance to make the playoffs with two months to go in the regular season.
Howard's injury is huge, especially with Utley still being out for another month, but this team still has the pitching to get the job done, with Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt at the front of the rotation. The bullpen is a very large question mark, but hopefully Brad Lidge and the rest of that group can pull themselves up and finally get themselves going in the right direction this season. It might be too late for that, but it's worth a shot. After three seasons of basically injury free baseball, the Phillies are making up for it in spades so far this year. With just two months to go, they have a real chance of making the playoffs, but they need everyone who is playing to up their games and ensure that Ryan Howard and Chase Utley are going to come back to a team still in the thick of a pennant race, not a team that's given up on the season because of injuries.
This sucks, it really does, but if everything goes downhill from here, you can't blame the injuries. This team just hasn't been playing at the same level this year that they had reached in the previous three seasons, and the rest of the National League East caught up to them. Regardless of the injuries, this team is better than this, and they should know that. Charlie Manuel had better get through to these guys that nothing is over yet, and that they can still surprise a lot of people by making a run. The pieces are still there, but it's going to take a lot more work than it has in recent seasons.
That's not going to stop me from trying to find the person that cursed the Phillies this year, because this is getting out of hand.
CSNPhilly.com: Phils place Howard on 15 day DL
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