Ryan Howard Is Hot And The Phillies Need To Trade Him, STAT

Phillies Nation – Since the end of April, Howard’s hit .324/.370/.632, with five home runs–including one off a lefty yesterday–and 11 RBI. His 1.002 OPS is 7th in the NL among qualifiers over that time, and his .309 ISO (isolated power, or simply slugging percent minus average) is 5th. His hard hit % (46.8%) is third in the NL, and, if you want to really get advanced, both his wOBA (.429) and wRC (15) are good for seventh in the league as well. Every single one of those numbers–OPS, ISO, hard hit %, wOBA, and wRC–leads the Phillies not only in May, but for the entire season as well. He went from hitting .194/.247/.417 in April, to hitting .257/.307/.521 for the season, as of yesterday. That’s about a 24.5% increase across the board in three weeks. Prior to the season, ZiPS projected Howard to hit .234/.310/.415, with a total of 18 home runs on the season. He has half that, and it’s not even June yet. So far, he’s outperforming expectations. According to FanGraphs, he’s the most valuable hitter on the Phillies (excluding baserunning).

SELL SELL SELL SELL SELL! It’s not gonna get any better than this. Ryan Howard is currently playing like it’s October of 1929 and Ruben Amaro better realize that. It’s only a matter of time before his stock crashes back to below Earth and, sadly, Golden Sombreos hold no monetary value. Time to dish the big piece and his apathetic swing at breaking balls to another squad while he’s slightly above worthless. Shit, maybe the Phils will get lucky and only have to pay $50 mill for him to rip dingers in the playoffs.

I hate this team.