Phillies Notes: Ryan Howard's not cashing in on fastballs
NEW YORK - Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said he will decide "a series at a time" whether Ryan Howard is in his lineup against lefthanded pitchers. The only two games the struggling first baseman has not started were against southpaws.
NEW YORK - Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said he will decide "a series at a time" whether Ryan Howard is in his lineup against lefthanded pitchers. The only two games the struggling first baseman has not started were against southpaws.
As he did Friday against Washington's Gio Gonzalez, Darin Ruf started in Howard's place Wednesday against Mets lefthander Jonathon Niese. Rightfielder Jeff Francoeur occupied Howard's cleanup spot.
In 27 at-bats entering the game, Howard had just four hits (.148), three of which were doubles, with 10 strikeouts and no walks. He has struggled to take advantage of the abundance of fastballs he is seeing. That's where the inconsistency stems, Sandberg said.
All but four of the 25 pitches Howard saw in the first two games of this week were fastballs or sinkers. Neither of the Mets starters, Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey, threw anything but fastballs in a combined 19 pitches to Howard. Lefthanders Jerry Blevins and Sean Gilmartin were responsible for the only curveballs Howard faced.
Sandberg likes that Howard is standing nearer to the plate - "half the distance closer," according to the manager - but said the closer a batter stands the more aggression is needed on fastballs.
"The amount of fastballs that he's getting, for me he should look fastball and really disregard the breaking ball until he gets two strikes," Sandberg said.
Billingsley's progress
The plan, Chad Billingsley said, is for him to make three more starts in his rehab assignment before joining the rotation. The 30-year-old righthander pitched five scoreless innings Wednesday in his second rehab start for triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Three more starts in the minors would put Billingsley in line to join the Phillies in the first week of May. His next start will come Monday or Tuesday with double-A Reading because Lehigh Valley is on the road.
"The strength is there; my arm feels good," said Billingsley, coming off consecutive seasons lost to elbow surgeries. "I talked to my doctor who performed the surgery [Neal ElAttrache, the Dodgers' team doctor] and he said if I can get through a month and a half of pitching in games with no pain, I'll be in the clear."
Extra bases
Domonic Brown (left Achilles tendinitis) played in his fifth rehab game Wednesday with high-A Clearwater. The rightfielder will soon join triple-A Lehigh Valley for more rehab games, Sandberg said. . . . In honor of Jackie Robinson Day, all on-field personnel around the majors sported No. 42 uniforms Wednesday.