PT TOMORROW: NL East—Ryan Howard losing playing time

Philadelphia Phillies

Ryan Howard (1B, PHI) is in the midst of what could wind up being the worst season of his career. The veteran slugger currently sports a .224/.306/.380 slash line with 16 HR and 62 RBI in 384 AB. His current .380 slugging percentage would be the worst of his career as he has never posted a slugging percentage below .423 in a season.

Left-handed pitching has given Howard problems over the years, but he has actually fared better against them this season (.232/.399/.453 with 6 HR and 40 K in 95) than he has against right-handers (.221/.308/.356 with 10 HR and 82 K in 289 AB).

Manager Ryne Sandberg even took the step of benching Howard for three consecutive games recently. Darin Ruf (1B/OF, PHI) started each of those...

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