Ryan Howard: Time to Worry?

All this talk about Ryan Howard warming up when the weather warms up is kind of funny. I would understand that logic if he made contact, but warmer weather doesn't mean his bat will magically meet the ball all of a sudden. Bottom line, Howard needs to make more contact then the hits will come, until then 115 degree Arizona heat won't cure his woes.

Playing in cold weather is tough. It's hard to get warm and stay warm, which makes it hard to be loose while swinging. I'm not sure if that's Howard's problem right now but playing in cold weather isn't as easy as people think.

Ryan Howard is beginning to make me wonder if there is such a thing as "Steve Blass disease" for hitters. He is striking out at such a prodigious rate it has to effect him psychologically.It's also possible that unless he's able to make adjustments, he may be just a modern day Dave Kingman- .230 batting ave., lots of K's and thirty-some homers. I say this despite hoping every game that he turns it around.

Ryan Howard is in a slump right now that defies categorization. Last night is a prime example against the Giants. Just look at his body language - he looks like he is about to pass a bowling ball every time he steps into the box. The boos were well deserved but didn't help matters. It's clear to everyone that he is not seeing the ball when he's up to bat. Pitchers have always thrown him sliders and high and in fastballs, but it's gotten to the point where he is terrified to make a mistake. Charlie needs to shake things up, and with J-Roll coming back it's a great time to do it. Rollins 1, Victorino 2, Utley 3, Burrell 4, Werth 5, Feliz 6, Coste 7, Jenkins 8. Messes up their substitutions maybe, you still have Bruntlett and Taguchi (the man who redefines the word "defensive liability", but still), and you have a solid lineup throughout. Was there any doubt that Howard was going to whiff last night in the bottom of the 9th when he could have won the game after Lidge bailed their butts out? He is a mortal lock for a strikeout right now, it's inhumane to put him up there in this condition. Ok I need to take some tylenol and calm down.

I think NL pitchers have figured out how to work him.I don't know if he EVER saw the ball that well or made in-game adjustments to the style of pitcher he was facing.I'm starting to wonder if he's not a dud.

NL teams have viewed countless amount of film on the big guy and they're capitalizing on his weaknesses, time for him to adjust on flounder.

All hail the King. Beat those Mets!

just watched his lame swing to take him to 0-2 today. He looks like his fists are made out of hams or something. His swing has devolved into this monstrosity - ugh

He's always had an ugly swing.

The "big oaf" scored the game winning run this after noon. 10 of the Phils 18 victories have been comebacks, now that's some moxy.

No strikeouts today, what an accomplishment for Howard!

I think it's definitely mental, the booing sucks and should stop! Here's to hoping he's not a dud and can figure this out! I'm behind you Ryan!!!!!

I'm usually not for booing, especially my team, but Ryan Howard deserves some boos because a message needs to be sent.

I boo'ed him Thursday night. He needs to learn how to bat quick. Maybe he should watch film like his second base counterpart. I don't care if he got himself $10 million this year. If he wants a new contracts he can't break his own strikeout record in 2008.

WOW, daveIsaac, I think the only way for him to "learn" how to bat again is booing as well. Were yall not just cheering him on last season? It is still early. Give the man a chance. There is still well over 100 games left.

I bet you were one of the idiots who booed Burrell too right? Man don't you look dumb

I never booed Burrell. In fact the only Phillies I ever booed were Rob Ducey, David Bell, and Gavin Floyd...avoid making blanket statements DTRIK19.

Burrell worked and adjusted his batting style. Howard looks lost. Not giving up on him, but it's painful to watch.

Just because I'm being critcal of a star player doesn't mean I don't appreciate him. I don't understand why some people are all over my analysis of the Ryan Howard situation. I could understand if I made stuff up or was falsifying information, but I've presented nothing but factual stats. Some people just don't like the truth I suppose.

Carson - you've obviously forgotten what forum you are using!!

dude, chill.theyre in first place. i dont care if he gets another HR the entire season.

How long will they remain there if Howard doesn't start hitting? Utley and Burrell aren't likely to be able to carry this load the entire season, they'll probably "slump" sometime too.

everones learned the ball this guy hits.. He has to modify his stance at the plate otherwise he wont ever be the .250 batter with 40 homeruns every season... Utley MVP

the team is playing well... ill only be concerned if he does not reach fourty homers this year... then there is an issue with howard... he definitly is not hitting the ball well, but he has been known to not hit well in "cold" weather (meaning he just starts slow)... there is still plenty of time for him to turn it around... a tweak in his stance would not hurt things, any adjustment right now would not hurt

the guy dosnt want to play for the phillies plain and simple....

GMCarson...you're an idiot plain and simple...theres no way around it. Is he in a horrible slump right now? Absolutley. Does he have a swing that doesn't stay in the "zone" very long? Yes. Fact of the matter is, he is going to hit around .250 with 50 homers...thats the kind of player he is. He will finish the season with those kind of numbers, he already has more homeruns this year than last year. Would you rather have 3 more home runs or 5 more base hits to improve his average? Yea I thought so.

The teams in 1st place, they have 2 guys that would finish 1-2 in the MVP voting if it were to happen today, they have a solid bullpen and have even gotten pretty good starting pitching. Oh and all that with Howard slumping and Rollins missing over 20 games. And all that talk about the weather heating up is LEGIT...the ball carries better in lighter air. If you knew anything about baseball you would know that. Where are you arguments now about how the team as started? Do us all a favor and put on a Mets jersey...show your real baseball IQ.

What the f*#k is your deal? All you talk about is homeruns like they're the end all be all of baseball. Homeruns are great, but they're not everything. No where did I say I dislike Howard or that I'm giving up on him, all I said is that I'm worried. And if a sub .200 average with strikeouts 40% of the time doesn't worry you, then I wonder about your baseball IQ. Seriously, I love homeruns, most fans do, but we need him to hit period, I really don't care how those hits fall right now. I think he'll turn it around too to a certain extent and probably still knock 40+ homeruns, but the average is going to be low and his strikeouts astronimcally high.

Awww well thats cute that you are worried. He won't hit for a high average...end of story. Thats what we have Chase and JRoll for. Howard will be fine, he just has to work through it. Dumbasses like you booing him won't make it any easier. We don't need him to hit right now because everybody else is. Oh and we get Jimmy back Thursday so theres even more pressure taken off of him. Support him, stay in his corner...we're goin to the playoffs whether he hits .300 or .200

Dude, I haven't booed Howard yet. You might want to read exactly what I write from now on because you do a lot of implying, but I say what I mean. I'm not trying to pick a fight with you because I can see it will do no good anyway, maybe we just agree to disagree on this matter and quit insulting each other's baseball IQ's.

DTRIK is right about everything, don't you know that Carson? Why should we be worried about a guy with 45 strikeouts to go with his 19 hits? Why should we be worried about a guy who relies on power having a slugging percentage of .351? Just because the team is doing good with him struggling doesn't mean they will continue to do so. They need the #4 hitter in the line-up to start producing and driving in runs.

DTRIK-- don't ever insult Carson by telling him to put on a Mets jersey. Go to his website, he bleeds Phillies red.

Anybody that knows baseball knows that a season is long, and batters will fall into quite a few slumps over the year. He needs to have a big hit to gain his confidence back, then he should be o.k. Of course pitchers are also learning how to pitch to him better, and soon he will adjust and be back in the thick of things. Give him a break.

Well, I know I commented yestarday, but I wanted to stop back and congratulate you GMCarson on posting the Article of the day.And again...Booing won't solve anything Phillies fans. Howard's been a first class player in many ways. He's in a huge slump, no denying that.But negativity begets negativity! Try uplifting your players when they're down instead of kicking them.Let's go Phils!!!

Not that I'm accusing anyone. I've read the post and comments thoroughly!

I can tell you read the comments and the article, because you didn't point fingers and starting spouting off about things that other's supposedly said. I don't necessarily agree with you viewpoint, but I respect it, we don't always have to see everything the exact same way, that would be boring.

Exactly!

nahh ryan howard will start hittin 'em outtta here soon enough i say late may

why do we philly fans find a problem with everything. ryan howard is a good player. yes hie is going through slump, but who doesn't. the phils aren't one player. and where howard hasn't been succeeding at, the others are picking up the slack. instead of riding another good player to hate the town he is in, why not focus on how well the phils are doing?

We haven't had a championship in 25 years, that's why we like to find problems. It is great that the Phils got a hot start this year and are in first place, but if they're going to do well down the stretch Howard will have to step up at some point. As for booing, thats been a staple of this city for a long long time. We boo players when they do poorly...it's our thing. Props to Pat Burrell for enduring the boo's for almost 2 full years and now putting up MVP like numbers. Obviously the fans don't have anything to do with #5's success, but he knew the heat was on and changed his game.

Yea he knows the fans have nothing to do with anything. Which is why booing one of your best is rediculous. Maybe thats why the Philly's never do anything, because the players feel like they are on the hot seat.

How am I "finding a problem" with a man making 10 mil and only batting .167 while striking out 40% of the time? I didn't find the problem, it's smacking everyone in the face and screaming problem. I ask, why would you ignore it?

Burrell made 15/mill a season for years of doing jack squat and Eatons still making 8/mill a year for mediocre pitching (though hes been pretty good thus far in 08) Thats just the nature of the beast with contracts the way they are. What Howard is doing that neither Pat nor Eaton did during their lackluster years is putting butts in the seats. Would we have great attendance without him? Sure! We love the Phils...but a mammouth of a man who can hit the ball 500 ft adds to attraction that is the Philadelphia Phillies. Its not a matter of ignoring it or not...its just part of baseball...players go through month long slumps. The only good thing is if this keeps up...he won't be making $10million next season...but Eaton will still be making 8.

Now that was a good intelligent comment without attacking anyone, let's keep it mostly civil people. It's cool to be humorous, but let's not ridicule each other for having opposing points of view.

He's on pace for 250 K's.

But apparently that's no reason to worry.

We're having the same trouble here in Dodgerland with Andruw Jones, but he's got nothing to worry about since he was hired to play CF whether he hits or not and no matter how many times he strikes out.
I don't know why they signed him except to take playing time away from Ethier & Kemp. All Juan Pierre has to do is keep his OBP up and he has no problem but most of us feel that he is unnecessay since we have Furcal.

Andruw Jones doesn't have anything to worry about because he plays in L.A., and their fans have lots and lots of different sports teams and extracurricular activities to distract them from an underperforming star. It's a soft sports town for professional athletes to call home. Philly is a totally different deal - no champs in 25 years, shrinking city with a lot of crime and poverty - for better or worse, a lot of people here live and die with the success of their professional teams. This Phillies team is the most popular baseball team we've had since the late 70s and early 80s, literally since Schmidt won his last MVP. So of course the pressure is turned up a notch. Booing Howard is counterproductive, but the fact still remains that he deserves criticism for his second consecutive slow start. Great players make adjustments - Pat Burrell has adjusted his swing and stance in the batters box this season - he is not getting behind most balls he sees, he is taking longer at-bats to raise the pitch count and get the ball he wants, he is hitting fast balls - in short, he isn't hacking and he's now a tough out (although as I type this he is 0-3 tonight against Arizona). The idea that Howard is somehow struggling because of the weather is silly - he is STRIKING OUT 40% of his at-bats. That isn't because it's cold. It's not like the guy is flying out at the warning track, and 10 degrees warmer weather would make the ball go out. He is guessing when he swings. He has no confidence. You don't get the sense that he is thinking about the pitch that will likely come his way because he is terrified of striking out. And it's exacerbated by the fact that he is trying to beat the ever living stuffing out of the ball. Someone talked about his home runs and how they have helped. They asked if we would prefer a higher batting average. The answer is a resounding yes. I can think of 3 home runs he has hit this season that have impacted the game towards a win. However, I can think of lots and lots of stranded runners he has left on the field because of his strikeouts, runs that trump his homerun production.

The issue of whether or not Howard likes playing for the Phillies is an interesting question. You do get the sense that he has not really embraced playing here as someone like Utley or even Burrell has over the years. I noticed at spring training that Howard seemed to go out of his way to avoid interacting with the fans, and other players like J-Roll and Utley did not. I'm not saying that just because I watched 3 spring training games and didn't witness his signing balls and chatting with fans that that necessarily means he doesn't like the city or the club, just some things that made me wonder. And with his dad as his agent, I think he's going to go to arbitration every year and avoid a long-term deal - whether because of potentially making more money or disliking Philadelphia, who knows. But Utley signed a long-term deal that is well below market value and sacrificed more money because he wants to be here. I think there's something to be said for peace of mind and committing to an organization in baseball to focus on playing, but what the heck do I know?

I'll give credit where and when credit is due and Ryan Howard had a decent night last night going 1-4 with 2 rbi in the Phils victory. His sac fly put the Phils on the board in the 1st and they never looked back.

Thats where he needs to start, play his part by bringing in runs, and be a good role player. Before long he will be back to his usual self.