Most people fret when they lose a few dollars at the casino, but what the Philadelphia Phillies should do could make that seem like chump change, literally. They must swallow hard and say goodbye to $25 million. In other words, they must say goodbye to first baseman Ryan Howard. They are on the hook for $25 million this year, but giving Howard any time now is counterproductive to advancing the rebuilding process.
The original plan was to platoon the left-handed hitting Howard with right-handed hitting Darin Ruf. Manager Pete Mackanin gave a clue as to what the organization is thinking when he decided to sit Howard against right-handed pitching earlier this week and see what Ruf could do. He promptly hit a pair of home runs off right-handers after hitting a homer against a lefty the day before.
If that’s a trend, and not an outlier, what is the point of sitting a more productive Ruf for a less productive Howard? If the club is really serious about advancing the rebuilding process, they cannot send the fanbase a big, fat message otherwise by putting that excess weight on their bench for another year. Howard hit .223 in 2014 and improved that only marginally in 2015 (.228). His double in an exhibition game on Friday was his first hit in nine plate appearances this spring. No matter how hard the Phillies wish it, he is not going to get any better. Meanwhile, Ruf is 6-for-21 with three homers, one double and a team-high eight RBIs so far.
The fact that two of those three homers are off right-handers is as good an argument as any for making Ruf the full-time, and not just the platoon, first baseman. We shall see soon if the Phillies are really serious about winning or more concerned about their $25 million investment going down the drain.
