Ryan Howard Cleared For Batting Practice

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard might be a touch overrated. He's almost certainly paid more than he would be on the open market. He gets MVP votes in seasons where he might not be one of the top four or five first basemen in the league.

But he's still good. His OPS+ in down years is around 125, and when that's ripped from a lineup, it'll hurt. Howard's Achilles injury has hurt the Phillies' offense, as they've made do with Ty Wigginton, Laynce Nix, and Jim Thome. But Ryan Howard coming back soon would help the Phillies and that team OPS+ of 82. And how. So there's encouraging news from the Associated Press:

Phillies 1B Ryan Howard took batting practice for the first time since February at the team's spring-training facility in Clearwater, Fla. GM Ruben Amaro Jr. called it "progress." Howard, the 2006 NL MVP, has been sidelined since having a procedure to remove an infection near his surgically repaired left Achilles tendon.

The Phillies' moribund offense can use him, and he's still targeting late May or early June for his return.

Ryan Howard is on his way to the Phillies' Florida training facility and will resume baseball activities beginning on Monday, according to Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly. Howard has been recovering from offseason surgery after tearing his Achilles on the final play of the Phillies' NLDS matchup with the Cardinals last fall. While he still has a way to go, the fact Howard has been cleared to ramp up his training is a positive sign, perhaps indicating his recovery is moving along nicely.

Salisbury had a quick rundown of what's ahead for Howard in the coming weeks.

Howard will start off fielding ground balls and throwing. He will not hit for a few days, until "he gets his legs under him," Amaro said. Everything that Howard does at first will be under a controlled setting. He will build toward getting at-bats and playing the field in extended spring training games, but there is no timetable for that. Howard has not done any running. He will have to work toward sprinting.

Chase Utley, recovering from knee issues, may also be close behind, perhaps resuming baseball activities in the next week or two. He'll likely follow a similar path as Howard, heading to Florida for more extensive training after being cleared.

For more on Howard and Utley, head over to The Good Phight and SB Nation Philly.

The last we heard from Ryan Howard and the Philadelphia Phillies, the slugging first baseman was dealing with an infection-related setback that was delaying his efforts to return from an Achilles injury. The best-case scenario was something like the end of May, though some reports pushed his return into June.

Looks like he's mobile and making progress, though. From Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Ryan Howard is here for opener ceremonies. He's taking grounders at first.

— Matt Gelb (@magelb) April 9, 2012

Maybe the prognosis didn't change, but at least now we have an image of Ryan Howard on a baseball field doing baseball things, whereas before, I was picturing him in a hospital bed with an infected heel held in traction high above his head. But don't let my own medical ignorance confuse you.

In Howard's stead, the Phillies have used three starting first basemen: Ty Wigginton, Laynce Nix, and Jim Thome. Jim Thome! Thome recorded eight putouts and one assist, with nary an error, which is encouraging. But the Phillies are also .000 in games he's started. Quite the dilemma.

Not so long ago, Ryan Howard was supposedly on track to rejoin the Philadelphia Phillies in May after recovering from the severe ankle injury he suffered last October. Recently, though, Howard got an infection near his healing Achilles tendon, and the infection was serious enough to require surgery.

Which obviously put a hard stop to his spring-training rehabilitation. Philly.com's Matt Gelb:

The Phillies have told their first baseman to mostly rest. He has not been seen at the team's complex. The Phillies do not have an estimate for when Howard will resume baseball activities.

"We immobilized him," Amaro said, "just because our main priority is to just get the infection out of there."

Amaro said Howard is taking a strong dose of antibiotics to remove the infection. Doctors have told Amaro that it could take anywhere from seven to 10 days for the infection to leave his body. Howard last participated in a workout on Feb. 25.

Howard was supposed to return to the Phillies' lineup in May, but now his timetable's quite uncertain. He might still come back in May, but that means the infection's gone and he's rehabbing again within the next week or two ... and there aren't any more setbacks. If we have to guess, we might now guess that Howard won't take over at first base again until sometime in June. Give or take.

In his absence, Jim Thome figures to get much of the playing time, if he looks decent enough at first base this spring. If not, Ty Wigginton's the top candidate until Howard gets back.

When last we heard of the Achilles injury that Ryan Howard suffered making the final out of the Phillies’ NLDS series loss to the Cardinals, the team was optimistic that Howard might be able to play as soon as April.

Those hopes might now be dashed. Danny Knobler:

The Phillies won’t say Ryan Howard had a “setback.”

They will say that they’re not sure when he’ll be able to resume workouts.

However they phrase it, it can’t be great news that Howard’s surgically repaired Achilles tendon became infected.

A procedure was done on the infection on Monday; Knobler reports that the Phillies say the repaired tendon is “intact and not compromised”, though Phillies trainer Scott Sheridan is quoted as saying, “It’ll be like a new wound.”

There’s no timetable for Howard’s return; he had been taking batting practice and taking part in limited other drills, but whether the Phillies formally call this a “setback” or not, clearly, that’s exactly what it is.

John Mayberry Jr. and Jim Thome are among players who will fill in at first base until Howard can return. Whenever that is.

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard underwent successful surgery on his torn left Achilles on Wednesday.

According to Phillies GM Ruben Amaro, the Philly slugger will be out of action for "five to six months" while he recovers. He hopes his first baseman can still make his first scheduled at-bat of the 2012 regular season in April.

It's a much better result than what was initially-feared following the injury.

Surgery was performed in Baltimore on Wednesday morning by Dr. Mark Meyerson.

Howard's left leg gave out as he tried to leave the batter's box after dribbling a grounder to the right side of the infield for what turned out to be the final out of the Phillies' Game 5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals and had to be helped from the field.

Stay up to date on Ryan Howard's progress at Phillies blog The Good Phight and SB Nation Philly.

The Phillies are still waiting for the results of an MRI, but Ryan Howard’s post-game reaction to his injury, believed to be a torn Achilles’ tendon, sounds ominous.

“I was trying to run and I felt this pop and the whole thing went numb, like it was on fire,” he said, according to Philly.com. “It literally felt like I had a flat tire. I tried to get up and I just couldn’t go.”

Howard, who hit just 2-for-19 for the series, likely wouldn’t have made it to first base even if he hadn’t fallen down on his way to first base.

“I thought I hit the ball better than I did. I thought it was in the outfield,” he said. “I tripped and tried to get up. The adrenaline in me was kind of going. I looked up and saw (Nick) Punto had the ball and had thrown it and I couldn’t go. I couldn’t feel anything in my ankle. It sucks. It sucks.”

For Philadelphia Phillies fans, Friday went about as poor as could be expected. Chris Carpenter threw a complete game shutout to eliminate the Phillies from the postseason and Ryan Howard went down with an injury that could keep him out of action for a significant amount of time.

Howard's left leg gave out as he tried to leave the batter's box after dribbling a grounder to the right side of the infield for what turned out to be the final out of the Phillies' Game 5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals and had to be helped from the field. Following the game, reporters were told it was an Achilles injury, with Howard set to undergo an MRI on Saturday to diagnose the severity.

Howard later told reporters he thinks he tore his Achilles, which would be the worst possible outcome for both him and the team. If it is, in fact, torn, Howard could miss the entire 2012 season while recovering and rehabbing from the injury. But again, the diagnosis has to be confirmed on Saturday.

Until then, the Phillies wait, and hold their collective breath while hoping for the best. We'll be back with more on Howard's injury as it becomes available in this StoryStream.