Ryan Howard Begins Impromptu 6-8 Week Vacation

Ryan Howard hit the disabled list on Saturday, giving lil Darin Ruf a shot at playing first base in the Majors.

Jul 4, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard (6) is greeted at the dugout after scoring a run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the sixth inning at PNC Park. The Philadelphia Phillies won 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The question was, for how long would this go on?  Howard’s knee had been hornswagglin’ him for weeks, which along with a previous Achilles tear, greatly reduced his rhino-like speed.  He hadn’t been hitting very well, despite a titanic blast Friday, and appeared significantly stalled.

It’s all thanks to a torn meniscus in his troublesome right knee, the most recent Howard-part to prove defective.

The injury requires surgery, putting Ryan Howard on the DL for six to eight weeks, and thus completing the last instance of Charlie Manuel’s starters all appearing in the lineup together for at least a month and a half.

If ever the stage were set for a Darin Ruf push, now’s the time.  The kid is in the Majors for the long haul now, playing the position he was supposed to play in the first place (PUN MAGNIFICENTLY INTENDED), but we all laughed at how long it would take until Howard was gone, and then cried because it was supposed to be a really, very long time.

Not that we were hoping for a Howard injury.  The guy’s effectiveness has clearly dropped off and his body is snapping and spraining with more frequency – more than anything, we just want him to not be in pain and producing.  If only he could do to injuries what he did to that baseball on Friday and his torn meniscus would on ten rows back in center field.