Ryan Howard hits homer against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in his sixth rehab game - MLB Update
First baseman Ryan Howard slams a home-run in his sixth rehab appearance while playing for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees. Giving a glimpse of the kind of slugger he is, he drove in four runs and took his side home.
Within few days, he will be playing a couple of more games before he will be ready to start for the Philadelphia Phillies.
By the time Howard was in the process of rehabilitation, it was being assumed by the experts that he will not be effective on his return. Injury will dampen his hunger for hitting homers, they maintained. Using this as a reason, they believed that the Phillies
will not be affected by his absence.
Similarly, they described their second baseman Chase Utley, who has now made it to the season after recovering from injury, a player who will not be able to deliver due to his ageing body.
However, the way both of them have gone through their respective rehab games, it looks they are heading to reshape the Phillies’ offence in the season from now onward.
Howard is known for using at-bats for hitting homers in most of the occasions. He possesses the record of hitting 200 home-runs, which is the quickest in the history of baseball. If he can replicate his past performance with the Phillies on return in the
line-up, he can help the club start a new journey in their next half of the season.
He along with ace Roy Halladay and Utley can make up for the miseries suffered by the Phillies so far. If the trio brings up their best on comeback, one can entertain chances of the Phillies defending their five time Division Championship winning title in
the last half of a decade.
While talking about how he felt on the plate in the rehab game, Howard stated that he is gradually getting back to his groove.
“I felt better. I put a couple balls in play and obviously had the home run,” Howard said. “It’s kind of like a modified spring training for me. When you’re out there you’re getting some at-bats and playing some defense and just trying to get into the rhythm
and the flow of the game.”
Regardless of how Howard will perform in the season, one thing is for sure that the Phillies are going to be an altogether different side after the All-Star break.
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