Last week we learned that Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard had faced a setback to his recovery from Achilles surgery. While the repaired Achilles was still intact, Howard had contracted an infection in his original wound. The Phillies didn’t have a timeframe for recover then, and they apparently still don’t now. All that Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro could say regarding Howard’s return was that the slugger “could be backed up for a while”.
At this point, Howard’s infected foot has been cleaned out and he is in a walking boot. Amaro told Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer that Philadelphia’s top priority is “just to get the infection out of there”. Howard has been immobilized in the boot and is taking a strong dose of antibiotics to battle the infection. Amaro noted that it could take anywhere from seven to 10 days for the infection to leave Howard’s body.
However, even after it does and Howard is able to come out of the boot, the Phillies are not sure when he will be able to return to baseball related activities. Amaro said that he has no idea on a timeframe “one way or another”. The GM added that Howard “could be backed up for a while” because the Phillies aren’t “going to do anything with him” until they’re sure the infection is out of his foot.
Amaro did confirm that Howard’s repaired Achilles remains intact. This will allow the Phillies to push him “aggressively” once he gets out of the boot and the infection has proved healed.
Still, this situation figures to delay Howard’s return to the Phillies. Initially, before word of the setback, the Phillies were hoping Howard could rejoin the club by the middle of May. Until the infection is cleared nothing will be official, but it does appear that the slugger’s return will be delayed by the recent setback.
Philadelphia should be able to shoulder the loss of Howard early on, especially considering how easy their schedule is over the first month of the season. Five of Philadelphia’s first seven series are against teams that maintained sub-.500 records in 2011.
The Phillies will turn to offseason acquisition Ty Wigginton to shoulder a majority of the load at first until Howard can return.
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