I think there's a pretty sizeable difference between "fine" Ryan Howard and "last year's" Ryan Howard. Namely, he's pulling almost everything this year, while last year, he hit a lot of home runs, and long fly balls, to left field. It would seem to indicate he's not letting the ball get deep in the zone this year, and that concerns me. Early swings mean more strikeouts, and less intentional walks.

More strikeouts, indeed. It's been feast or famine the last few weeks. In the Reds series last week, Howard struck out 10 times. Feed the outside 1/3 of the plate, and he's done.

re: ryan howard

you can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him....

let's look at the above comments and the twenty-homer plateau with some common sense.

Ryan Howard is in his third year in the league.

First year, rookie of the year.

Second year, 58 homers and MVP.

Third year, he's a bit off, but he's still at 20 homers and it's only July 5th, so he's on pace to hit anywhere from 30-50 homers for the year.

If that's failure, I'll take Ryan Howard's failures over anyone else's successes.

As for pulling the ball, as opposed to hitting to the opposite field, rather than showing a regression in his batting style, that shows to the contrary that he's learning to pull the ball and use his power in a more focused manner and drive the ball down the right field line the way sluggers are supposed to. It's a lot harder to get homers hitting the ball to center field where it's 405 feet than hitting the ball to right field where it's 370 or 336 in the alleys or down the line.

Last year, even hitting 58 homers, Howard lost a lot of homers to deep center field by hitting to the opposite field so much.

By concentrating on pulling the ball (the way Chase Utley does almost 100% of the time) Howard increases the chance of getting a home run.

Besides, I've seen him hit the ball where it's pitched this year. His mammoth 505 foot shot to center field with two men on a couple of weeks ago was directily to centerfield and would have been out of the old polo grounds, I believe, it was hit so hard.

the fact is the man hits home runs, it's what he does, and he will hit many, many more of them before he's done. He also appears to be a hot weather hitter who hits better in the second half, which is great considering how hot it gets in philly in the summers.

--art k, philly

re: ryan howard

you can't stop him, you can only hope to contain him....

let's look at the above comments and the twenty-homer plateau with some common sense.

Ryan Howard is in his third year in the league.

First year, rookie of the year.

Second year, 58 homers and MVP.

Third year, he's a bit off, but he's still at 20 homers and it's only July 5th, so he's on pace to hit anywhere from 30-50 homers for the year.

If that's failure, I'll take Ryan Howard's failures over anyone else's successes.

As for pulling the ball, as opposed to hitting to the opposite field, rather than showing a regression in his batting style, that shows to the contrary that he's learning to pull the ball and use his power in a more focused manner and drive the ball down the right field line the way sluggers are supposed to. It's a lot harder to get homers hitting the ball to center field where it's 405 feet than hitting the ball to right field where it's 370 or 336 in the alleys or down the line.

Last year, even hitting 58 homers, Howard lost a lot of homers to deep center field by hitting to the opposite field so much.

By concentrating on pulling the ball (the way Chase Utley does almost 100% of the time) Howard increases the chance of getting a home run.

Besides, I've seen him hit the ball where it's pitched this year. His mammoth 505 foot shot to center field with two men on a couple of weeks ago was directily to centerfield and would have been out of the old polo grounds, I believe, it was hit so hard.

the fact is the man hits home runs, it's what he does, and he will hit many, many more of them before he's done. He also appears to be a hot weather hitter who hits better in the second half, which is great considering how hot it gets in philly in the summers.

--art k, philly