Ryan Howard Injury: Torn Achilles Sends Phillies into Uncertain Offseason

St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter insulted the Philadelphia Phillies with a complete-game shutout in Game 5 of the NLDS. Ryan Howard closed it out with the injury, one that adds a dose of uncertainty to an offseason that came sooner than anyone expected.

The Phillies’ slugging first baseman limped out of the batter’s box and crumpled to the ground with a ruptured Achilles tendon after bouncing out in the final plate appearance of a 1-0 defeat to seal his team’s fate. Howard managed only two hits in 19 at-bats in the series, with a home run, six RBI and six strikeouts to boot.

As unfortunate as Howard’s injury is in the immediate term, it only further compounds the team’s concerns about its aging lineup heading into 2012. 

This was supposed to be the Phillies’ season. They came into 2011 as the oldest team in the Majors, with the deepest starting rotation in recent memory, behind Cy Young winners Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, World Series MVP Cole Hamels and former Houston Astros ace Roy Oswalt.

Their everyday lineup was getting old, but still sported two former NL MVPs in Howard and shortstop Jimmy Rollins, along with Hall-of-Fame second baseman Chase Utley and All-Star center fielder Shane Victorino, also known as “The Flyin’ Hawaiian.”

The deadline addition of herky-jerky outfielder Hunter Pence appeared to calcify their chances of bringing another ring to the City of Brotherly Love.

Instead, the Phillies find themselves without anything to show for their club-record 102 regular season wins or their $172 million payroll, the second-highest in all of baseball.

The starting staff will be back but general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. will have some tough decisions to make, as Rollins and relievers Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson are all set to test the free agent market this winter.

And then there’s Howard. He figures to be out at least six months with his torn Achilles, a figure that would put him out of commission until after spring training. Howard led Philadelphia in homers (33) and RBI (116) this season but hit only .253 with 172 whiffs.

The numbers of Howard’s that really concern the Phillies at this point, though, are those related to his age and his contract. Howard will turn 32 in November, an age that’s typically pretty good for power but not necessarily for recovering from serious injuries.

And definitely not a good number for Philadelphia, given that the team has him signed through 2017 at an average of just over $23 million per season. That commitment, along with the long-term money guaranteed to the 34-year-old Halladay, the 33-year-old Lee and the 32-year-old Utley, among others, leaves the Phillies strapped for cash to invest in new, younger hitters to fill out Charlie Manuel’s batting order.

An order that, despite being replete with big names, ranked only seventh in the NL in runs scored and OPS and managed only 10 runs over the final four games of the series against the Cards.

What’s more, in acquiring the likes of Halladay, Lee, Oswalt and Pence over the years, the Phillies have exhausted their stock of minor league talent in anticipation of contending for World Series titles in the immediate term.

Which brings us back to Howard, a farm-raised talent who’s long padded his stats against mediocre bullpen arms to mask his struggles staring down top-tier pitching. As poorly as Howard has played at times, the Phillies need him to be the thumper in the middle of their aging lineup, to carry a less-than-officious offense in support of an ace-laden rotation.

If Howard is hobbled by his Achilles for too long, the Phillies may find themselves well behind in the race for the NL East, behind ladder-climbing clubs like the Braves, the Marlins and perhaps even the Nationals.

Much less the the pursuit of another World Series championship.

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