Will Howard ride the pine against Mulder?

It's not out of the question. It's one of several decisions that will be answered tomorrow when the Phillies take on the Cardinals big left-hander.

I had April 5 circled very early as a game that would indicate Charlie Manuel’s direction this season.

If this were 2005, it would be a safe bet that Howard, a .148 hitter against southpaws, would sit against Mulder, one of the game's toughest left-handers. Opponents hit just .201 against Mulder from the left side.

Manuel was very protective of his big rookie last season and shielded him from many of these bad matchups, but no player has been hotter than Howard. Correct me if I’m wrong, but he hit more than one of his 11 spring-training homers off left-handed pitching, including the colossal shot in Sunday’s exhibition game against Boston. I watched that blast in person. It was the longest home run I’ve seen in that park.

However, that was off a bush leaguer, not Mulder. Alex Gonzalez would be a likely candidate to replace him at first, similar to how Ramon Martinez was used last season. “Muscles” Martinez performed admirably in his place, but denying the lineup of Howard’s bat was met with mild displeasure.

I’ve often credited Manuel for his handling of Howard. There’s little to argue over, really. Manuel eased a high-strikeout rookie into his first taste of big-league pitching, he never slumped and won ROTY. Currently, he’s red-hot.

Charlie knows hitters. He knows their limitations. Howard still has rough edges, but so does Mulder. His 3.64 ERA last season was saved by good defense, masking a much higher 4.28 FIP (Fielding-independent) ERA.

My senses say the Phillies are eager to uncork Howard for a full season, and he'll be in action tomorrow. Down the road, when he needs a break, they'll save it for matchups like these.

We’ll also find out tomorrow whether David Bell is fit for action. Bell was a freakishly better hitter against left-handers in '05, but has missed most of the spring with a back injury. Manuel could fill out a completely reshuffled lineup card, which could include sliding Chase Utley out of the cleanup spot.

Comments

[RickSchuBlues]

Howard's got to start. It's one thing if he'd already made ten starts against lefties this year and gone 5 for 40. He's earned the chance to prove himself. This is no platoon player I see on banners all over the city.

[Lake Fred]

As this is my rookie season in the Beer League, I know this is going to be great year for me following my beloved Phillies from afar. As a green rookie, I'm going to ask a dumb rookie question. Here it is: Is Elmer, Foghorn Leghorn and Uncle Charlie all the same guy that occupies the Danny Ozark endowed managerial chair?

[That Dude]

I think Bell should and will get the start, as to Ryan "Black Bull" Howard, I think he should get the start, but I only think it's 50/50 that he will. At some point you have to let him sink or swim and why not try him out against lefties early in the season? Most pitchers this early dont last more than 5 or 6 even if they pitch well due to the weather, plus it would be good to show some good faith confidence in him.

[John]

Howard ought to start. He's going to have to learn to hit lefties at some point, and there's less pressure now than later in the season.

[RickSchuBlues]

Fred, you got it. Elmer is short for Bill Conlin's kindly nickname "Elmer Befuddled". Foghorn Leghorn, a reference to his southern accent. As if the worldly people or fans from Philadelphia have a right to bespeak judgement of intelligence and sophistication of people from other regions. We certainly have some of the best fans in the country here, as well as plenty of the most brainless.

Really, I was none too pleased with Manuel's hire, but I'm over it. He is not going to be the reason why they win or don't win.

[gr]

if this were a road game, maybe howard sits, but at the second game of the season in the home ballpark, i can't imagine he'd sit. that may not be ther correct criteria, but that's the way i see it. bell might start as well, but hitting him second like in preseason would be silly.

[MG]

I agree that Bell should get the start today at 3B. Manuel has to figure out if Bell is going to give anyone useful to the Phils this season. If he hits well against lefties and plays good defense he definitely will add something.

[RickSchuBlues]

I'm hoping Paul Hagen's article "Anatomy of a Drought" is addressed in the forum. I question the timing of it; it isn't going to help the mood of the fans the rest of the homestand, to say the very least. All they have to do is fall behind 1-0 tonight, and they'll start tearing seats out of the concrete.

Beyond that, it's just sad to read. If this team wins anytime soon, they do it in spite of the people who run it. Hopefully, Gillick can effectively counteract the repulsive mentality which has just strangulated the spirit of baseball in this city for all but one out of the last twenty-two seasons.

[SamDracula]

Agree with both RickSchuBlues posts. Play him for a while against lefties and see how he does. If he struggles, then you consider sitting him against tough lefties. Mulder's been throwing 88-90 and doesn't have a big hook. I think Ryan can hold his own against him. Bell has to play since he hits lefties so well.

[Mike]

I read Anatomy of a Drought and am tired of this line: "The Phillies have made the Playoffs once since 1983." It has about the same amount of truth as this line: "The Phillies have made the playoffs six times in the last 30 years." As long as the writers adjust the numbers to get more people angry, they do their job. It's garbage!

[The other Adam]

Sorry if this has already been commented on here, but has anyone noticed that the Phillies have two blogs on Phillies.com - "The Baron's Corner" written by Larry Shenk, Vice President of Public Relations, and "Phillies Fun & Games with John Brazer". Brazer is supposedly the "Director of Fun & Games", whatever that means.

Here is a slice of Shenk from opening day -

"A tradition for Phillies openers is a group of military personnel parachuting into the ballpark. This year it was the United States Falling Angels Skydiving Team. While standing on the field, you see an airplane out of which men are jumping. They appear to be so far away that they surely will never make it to the park. By golly, one by one, they land on the green grass."

Stay tuned . .

[Carson Book]

I forsee Howard starting tonight and either working a walk or a single off of Mulder. It will help boost his confidence against lefties. I also see the Phillies taking the next 2 games from the Cards, making a statement. They need to make a statement early in April this year, or it will be another season without playoffs. Only in dreams...

[Billy Mac]

I will take the unpopular stance and say you sit Howard against Mulder and start Gonzalez.
Willis, Petitte, Glavine, Francis, Glavine, Lowry, and Duke being the others I would consider sitting Howard until he improves against lefties. Howard will play tomorrow against Marquis and all of the games in the Dodgers series when they face Tomko, Lowe, and Penny (all righties). You need to give some ABs to your bench guys. This is a good time to do it.

That Larry Shenk blog entry is unintentionally hillarious.

[Nat]

Yeah, Howard should start, by golly.

[Fred]

King Kong is going to eat Mulder and then carry his wife up to the top of the Empire State building.

[That Dude]

i forsee Black Bull going 1-4 with a HR and 3k's.

[Adam]

Being in the Midwest at the moment, I don't have access to the game, so...

can anyone tell me what's wrong with Myers that he's walked 5 in 3.2 IP, including one to Mark Mulder???

also, who is Skip Schumaker, and why is he owning us?

[panda]

Bases loaded, bottom of the ninth, and our savior is... Lieberthal? Ouch.
Cards deserved to win this one. Pitching is going to kill us this year if these guys don't stop playing like it's spring training. Geary was the only one who looked sharp.

[Lake Fred]

They bring in the "old man closer" who gives up the go ahead run as he trips over his cane. With two out and a man on second, Howard comes up against a righty. I'm psyched. They walk Howard to pitch to the Black Hole. Amazingly, Bell draws a walk to load the bases. The second half of the Black Hole lives up to form by grounding to first to end the game. Boo!

[Adam]

What I don't understand was all the walks. 9 walks? what the #$&%?!?! you can't do that and possibly win the game, or deserve to win the game. terrible.

[theragtopguy]

From what it sounded like on the radio here at work, the home plate ump had a piss poor inconsistent strike zone. Also, LA made a comment that Myers was out of sync and his pitches were all over the map.

Great AB by Bell in the 9th, followed by a typical Lieberthal impatient AB--2 pitches, one strike and then the soft grounder to first.

Actually, I would've pinch hit for Lieberthal in that situation, but I must admit to prejudice because I can't stand the guy any more.

Take your hat off to the Cards, they have a very good team.

[That Dude]

Hopefully there will be a post on this game tomorrow where we can all hash this out, but you can pin this on Foghorn and Lieby for sure. NO ONE ELSE.

[Dave]

The announcers were completely right. I was at the game tonight with my younger brother and the umpire was completely atrocious. While Myers was very inconsistant he still pitched pretty decent, Geary looked great as well as Franklin (but he gave a bit of a scare). But Gordon should have gotten out of that inning with no runs scoring, he flat out struck out their LF (I forget his name) and the umpire missed the call, like he missed a ton all night.

[RickSchuBlues]

The 'King Kong' and 'Black Bull' b****** has to stop. It isn't funny. Someone has to let you know about it.

[Lake Fred]

I agree with RickSchuBlues, however, it is proper to refer to two other players as the "Black Hole" because that's an astronomical term and those two players are persons of non-color.