The Philadelphia Phillies have placed their slugging first baseman Ryan Howard on the 15-day disabled list. Howard has been struggling recently with a knee injury, as he has been laboring on the field and the basepaths. The Phillies have officially called the injury a case of knee inflammation.
In an attempt to avoid going on the DL, Howard received a cortisone shot in his left knee last Sunday. However, the knee hasn’t responded as hoped and a couple of weeks of rest became necessary.
This season the 33-year-old Howard is batting .266/.319/.465 with 11 home runs in 80 games.
The move comes just a couple days after Howard was called out by Philadelphia general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. who said:
“If Ryan Howard is now relegated to being a platoon player, he’s a very expensive platoon player and he needs to be better,” Amaro said. “I think he knows it. I know he’s struggling, I know he’s not happy with his performance — neither are we. I think he’s going to be better, but right now, he’s just not doing the job.”
Howard is in the second year of the 5-year $125 million contract he signed in April 2010.
Replacing Howard on the roster will be Darin Ruf who was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In 2012 he batted .333/.351/.727 in 37 plate appearances for the Phillies.
The Phillies are 42-45 and sit in third place in the National League East, 7.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves.
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Main Photo Credit: Matthew Straubmuller via photopin cc
