Ryan Howard: Quick Surgery Good Sign for Phillies’ Star 1B

Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports reports here that Phillies‘ first baseman Ryan Howard underwent surgery to repair his left Achilles tendon today.

Assuming the surgery went off with no problems, this is a very good thing for the Phillies. The exact recovery time is not really known. Expectations last week were that he would be out until mid-May to early-June.

There were some delays in the initial surgery, so it’s good that they got it done relatively quickly. It’s a six to 12 month recovery period from the surgery, so any delays would only add time in 2012 that Howard would miss.

I said here that the Phillies could survive parts of 2012 without Howard. Their lineup is still very strong and the starting pitching staff is probably the best in the league.

Now, even though the official recovery time is six to 12 months, it’s more than likely that the actual time is somewhere right in between them. That’s where we get the mid-May to early-June recovery time from.

It’s doubtful that the Phillies will have any reason to rush Howard back. Make no mistake, they want him in the starting lineup as soon as is humanly possible, but they will be in a good enough position to be patient with him. The last thing you would ever want to do would be to have him come back too early and get hurt again.

Howard’s not a speed guy, but his swing is very powerful. That’s going to put a lot of pressure on the injured areas.

But again, while they can likely win without him, Howard’s power will be nearly impossible to replace. It may not show up in wins and losses, but it will show up in how impressive they are.

The more time he misses, the more it hurts Philadelphia’s chances of getting to the playoffs and winning the World Series.

The fact that the surgery came today likely means that Howard will be back in full swing by the end of next season.

With a completely healthy Howard at the end of the year, the 2012 Phillies will be left with no excuses.

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Ryan Howard Injury: Phillies Can Survive in 2012 Without Star

From an immediate perspective, the most important storyline from Friday’s Cardinals vs. Phillies game was the end result. Philadelphia was favored by most people to win the World Series, but they will be watching the NLCS and World Series from home.

The second most important storyline was that Phillies’ slugger Ryan Howard suffered what appeared to be a very serious injury on the game’s final play.

Now, we don’t know the extent of the injury just yet. Still, Achilles’ injuries are very serious. Howard himself believed that it was a torn Achilles, which could have him sidelined for a year.

Since his first full season in the league (2006), Howard has averaged nearly 44 homers and and 133 RBI. His production has tapered a little bit in the last few seasons, but he is still one of the game’s premier sluggers.

If the injury is as bad as expected, Howard will miss anywhere between six and 12 months. That would have him missing some or all of the 2012 season.

Still, Philadelphia will be okay, and they are still the favorites in the National League East.

If you don’t believe me, take a look at the pitching rotation: Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt, and Vance Worley. While the bullpen could use some work, that is a vaunted pitching rotation that will keep them in any game they play.

Offensively, they still have stars like Chase Utley, Hunter Pence, Shane Victorino, and possibly Jimmy Rollins to produce runs. Even if Rollins goes, that’s not exactly a lineup with a lot of easy outs.

Lastly, first base is a position with some depth. You can pick up a first baseman for relatively cheap in free agency that will go a long way in making up for some of Howard’s lost numbers.

Any way you slice it, Howard’s loss is going to hurt. Even if his playoff production has been less than stellar, his offensive numbers are just massive, even in down years. In his six full seasons, Howard has never failed to hit 30 home runs or drive in 100 runs.

But even without Howard’s presence in the middle of the order, Philadelphia is still a playoff team in 2012.

Of course, the hot stove season could change that, but it’s hard to see a division rival improving enough to scare the Phillies.

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Cardinals vs. Phillies: Philadelphia’s Sluggers Make Them the Clear Team to Beat

Things seemed to be looking good for the Cardinals in Game 1 against the Cardinals. Lance Berkman had hit a three-run homerun in the first inning and St. Louis was sitting with a nice 3-1 lead. Then the bottom of the fifth happened.

Ryan Howard belted a three-run homer of his own, giving Philadelphia the lead. After a Shane Victorino single, Raul Ibanez belted a two-run shot of his own. All of a sudden the Cardinals, the rest of the National League and the entire American League was put on notice.

The Phillies are the best team in baseball. We know that the pitching staff is vaunted, but there was one persisting question. How would their aging offense manage in the playoffs? Would the bats fall flat like they did last October?

Well, a lot of games remain, but the first game is showing that the answer is a resounding no.

Philadelphia didn’t stop there, as they went on to an 11-6 win. Halladay didn’t allow a single run after Berkman’s blast, retiring each of hist last 23 batters.

It’s not just the arms. Philadelphia’s bats are clicking. The pitching was great, but you don’t win 102 games on pitching alone. Even a great pitching team will only win between 80-90 games if the bats don’t back them up.

The Phillies are not just built for the playoffs, but now that they’re there and the bats are swinging, they are in it to win it.

There simply isn’t a team left with the same caliber of pitchers that Philadelphia has. Remember, the Phillies very nearly outpitched the Giants in the 2010 NLCS (Philadelphia actually scored more runs than the Giants). Since that series, the Phillies have added Cliff Lee to the rotation and Hunter Pence to the lineup.

Philadelphia also won’t hit a team that has San Francisco’s pitching.

It’s just one game and you never want to go too strong off of that, but Philadelphia’s arms are undeniable and their bats seem ready to join the party this October.

 

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