When Ryan Howard landed awkwardly on second base and fell to the dirt in Sunday’s win against the Washington Nationals, the familiar response was, “just not their year.” It seems like it’s one thing after another with the Phillies team, but the good news is that x-rays were negative on his left ankle and he should avoid the disabled list.
‚ÄúHe’s going to be OK,‚Äù manager Charlie Manuel said. ‚ÄúI don’t expect him to miss very much time. If anything, he might miss a day or two. We’re off tomorrow. He might miss Tuesday or Wednesday, but he could very well be in the lineup on Tuesday. It’s going to be a short period.‚Äù
He better hope so. We’ve heard this kind of thing from the Phillies before. “It’s just a strain,” or “there is a little bit of tightness there” before a guy gets shelved on the DL.
But, Howard himself says the injury isn’t too bad.
‚ÄúRight now it’s just swollen,‚Äù Howard said. ‚ÄúIt’s tight, it’s sore. Other than that, it’s not too, too bad.‚Äù
Howard also had an x-ray on his elbow where John Lannan popped him with a pitch, but that looks to be fine too.
The Phils have off tomorrow before starting a three-game set with the NY Mets.
