Phillies Spring Training Talk

[PhillyGirl]

Howard hit another bomb today.

he hit one yesterday too.

[ice grillin you]

^^^^^
lolol...awesome


i know its spring training but damn is he ridiculous right now...what makes him deadly is he doesnt even have to come close to getting all of the ball to send it out...its almost like if he makes contact its gonna go

[SunMo]

i worry about his blowing his wad in spring training

[CSD]

^^^^^
lolol...awesome


i know its spring training but damn is he ridiculous right now...what makes him deadly is he doesnt even have to come close to getting all of the ball to send it out...its almost like if he makes contact its gonna go

He's a beast.

[MDS]

Start Alex Gonzalez against LHP 

[LBIggle]

i worry about his blowing his wad in spring training

worrying about it isn't going to make it not happen.  it's inevitable, he's a sillie.

[BigEd76]

Matt Kata was waived and picked up by Cincinnati.  See ya...

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

That brings pie-man closer to a roster spot.

[MDS]

hopefully gillick gets another flippin outfielder.

[Rome]

I'd just as soon see them keep Michael Bourn as sign another back-up.

[Rome]

Matt Kata was waived and picked up by Cincinnati.  See ya...

[SD_Eagle5]

Is that a Bob Marley joint in his right hand?

[BigEd76]

I'd just as soon see them keep Michael Bourn as sign another back-up.

He was optioned to SWB a couple of days ago...

[Rome]

Posted on Thu, Mar. 16, 2006

Get this: Howard still not satisfied with his spring

By MARCUS HAYES
hayesm@phillynews.com

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Even with big guys who hit huge homers, the magic often is in the minutiae.

Ryan Howard hit a pair of home runs Saturday against Houston - two homers in his first two at-bats off a proven major league starter, Brandon Backe.

The next day, Howard faced Justin Germano, a lesser entity with Cincinnati. Germano fooled Howard with a changeup in his first at-bat, but Howard was in such control of his swing that, despite poor balance, he pulled an RBI single to rightfield.

In the next at-bat, Howard sat on the changeup. He still got out in front of it but it took a spectacular play by first baseman Scott Hatteberg, who dived to his right and snared the missile - a much better swing without a result.
"I caught it a little bit on the end of the bat," Howard said. "I could have stayed back on it better."

This is why Howard insists he's not ready for the season.
In 12 games he has hit eight home runs, tops in the Grapefruit League entering today's off day. He's hitting .421 with 13 RBI, both among the exhibition leagues' leaders. He is mystified as to how.

"I usually don't do anything good in March," Howard said.

As effective as he has been, Howard said he isn't in the zone that propelled him to the National League's Rookie of the Year and nearly catapulted the Phillies into the playoffs.

"I'm not too far," Howard said. "There are a couple of things here and there. Hopefully, I'll get back to that form."
Howard's current focus:
"Timing. Working on identifying some pitches earlier," he said.

He identified Boof Bonser's second straight fastball in his second at-bat Tuesday and launched a 400-foot homer, cutting through a howling wind.

Obviously, last season wasn't enough.

Howard hit 22 homers with 63 RBI in just 88 games last season, finishing with a .288 batting average. He won the award with his strong finish: He ripped 14 homers with 33 RBI while hitting .309 in the Phillies' last 36 games, of which they won 21.

Howard's rookie season prompted the Phillies to jettison star slugger Jim Thome, whom Howard replaced at first base when Thome was lost midway through last season with an elbow injury. The Phillies traded Thome to the White Sox, placing Howard, 26, squarely in the spotlight.

There will be immense pressure to replace Thome, despite the fact that Howard won't likely bat among the Phillies' first five hitters and the fact that Jimmy Rollins, Bobby Abreu, Pat Burrell and Chase Utley all are more accomplished hitters who, in their own way, are as dangerous as Howard.

But none hears about (and dismisses) a sophomore jinx. None was the Rookie of the Year. None replaced Thome.
Little wonder Howard is not content dominating the Grapefruit League.

"He's never satisfied," hitting coach Milt Thompson said. "That's what makes him special."

Thompson caught Howard's ear during the Phillies' winter tour in January. As a result, Howard is standing more upright and closer to the plate, key for tracking breaking balls and for whipping pitches on the outer half of the plate to the opposite field - the sort of challenge he will face daily as lefthanded pitchers with nasty sliders try to attack his weaknesses.

Charlie Manuel, Howard's manager and a power-hitting guru, has, for 3 years, tried to get Howard to "turn his field around," said bench coach Gary Varsho: that is, to pull the ball more, to more efficiently use the massive power in his 6-4, 250-pound frame.

Manuel wants Howard to stay back on pitches, to recognize them, to let them get deeper before committing his hands to swinging. This, Manuel figures, might help Howard walk more and strike out less; he fanned 100 times in those 88 games last season, along with 66 whiffs at Triple A. He has averaged slightly more than 1.1 strikeouts a game.

Last season, he hit .148 with one home run against lefthanded pitchers. Of course, he was allowed to hit against them only 63 times, but he managed only two walks and he struck out 26 times. This led some observers, including some in the organization, to suggest that, for the good of the team, Howard should seldom face tough lefthanded starters.

Thompson is not of that opinion.

He points to himself, who, as a rookie lefty hitter in 1984 went 1-for-16 in a September call-up with the Braves and quickly got the rap of not being able to hit lefties. The next season, Thompson said he hit .290 against lefties.

"People can be too quick to make judgments," Thompson snorted. "I think he's going to prove them wrong."

He's already starting. Howard homered against Yankees lefty Ron Villone in his first game of the spring. The Yankees inserted lefty reliever Mike Myers just to face Howard a week ago. Howard nicely took an offspeed pitch on the outer part of the plate to leftfield for a hit.

"The more I face them, the more comfortable I'll become," Howard insisted. "It's all about a learning process."

"These are the things that make a difference at the big-league level," bench coach Gary Varsho said. "Hitting that second changeup - hanging back on it - that is a big plus."

Even if it gets caught.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Howard should be starting no less than 150 games.