Howard out of the lineup tonight, no word on suspension

According to Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Ryan Howard is out of tonight’s lineup against the Houston Astros. It could be for a couple reasons, which include not being able to hit a baseball effectively or getting chucked from last night’s marathon for arguing balls and strikes.

“No word on a suspension for Howard. For now, appears as if it’s a day for him to rest/clear his mind,” Gelb tweets.

If you didn’t see the game last night, Howard had a chance to end the game with a base knock, but instead tried to check his swing twice. He didn’t and he struck out. Clearly, he disagreed with the umpire.

If you didn’t see the game, it looks like the ump gave him a quick toss in this video. But Howard was running his mouth earlier in the count when the third-base umpire said he didn’t check his swing. You could see Howard telling the home plate umpire that he was upset with himself and not arguing balls and strikes. However, the umpire on third base didn’t take it that way. He had his hands on his hips and didn’t appreciate Howard’s talking.

I saw it coming as soon as Howard tried to hold off on strike three. The ump was going to say he went around regardless, Howard would give him – at least – a look, and he’d get chucked immediately. Sure enough, that’s what happened.

The big problem with Howard getting tossed was that the Phillies were out of position players. That meant that Roy Oswalt had to play left field (the first ball put in play after that was a fly right to him) and Raul Ibanez went to first. Ibanez was a bigger problem at first than Oswalt was in the field in case you were wondering.

But anyway, a suspension could be coming for Howard, who erupted like I’ve never seen before. He also could just be out of the lineup because he is awful right now. He’s still coming back from the ankle injury and appears to be swinging with just his upper body.