Wound specialist gives Ryan Howard go-ahead for practicing rehab games - MLB Update
The Philadelphia Phillies have every reason to cheer as first baseman Ryan Howard sees his wounds disappearing, making him ready for a potential plate appearance.
On Friday, a wound specialist approved of improvements he is having. This will now trigger his journey to Clearwater on Sunday for playing few rehabilitation games.
Howard holds a record of reaching 200 home-runs quickest in the history of the Major League. In light of this, to what extent he will have benefited the Phillies’ struggling offence in the games he missed can be realised.
At the moment, the Phillies possess one of the best rotations in the season. Only an absence of hitters like Howard has hampered their quest.
Great pull hitting ability he has can provide a serious competitive edge to the club. The kind of confusion he can create in the minds of pitchers and the opposing managers with his mere presence on the plate can be valuable for the whole side.
As soon as he resumes play, he is expected to play in the season within one week. However a lot depends on how he fares in rehab games. If he can show some positives there, he can be right back in the Phillies’ camp.
Earlier Phillies held back Placido Polanco owing to his injury prone body and gave him proper rest despite the fitness he showed. This suggests the kind of treatment Howard will get from the management.
Howard is hopeful of a comeback at the earliest, believing in his ability to restore his composure on the plate soon. Besides, he talks of his strong tendon now and how he has come a long way from his injury, which started last season.
“The tendon itself is fine, it's strong,” Howard said. “It's just a matter of kind of getting back into the swing of things first, and then start hitting. I'll probably give myself a week or so, see how it is ... and then see about trying to start to hit.”
With Howard in the line-up and possibly Chase Utley following suit, only issue for the Phillies then will be getting the best of these players. It will be interesting to see how far they can achieve this.
Tags: