MLB | Joseph shows pop, but, hey, ‘Howie’ has to get his at-bats ...

Phillies first baseman Tommy Joseph unloaded his first big-league homer Tuesday night to spark a 3-1 victory against Miami at Citizens Bank Park.

by Jack Kerwin  |  ydkjack1@gmail.com

Don’t get too excited, Phillies fans.

Yep, the arrival of one-time uber catching prospect turned successful first-base reclamation project Tommy Joseph is exciting. Just three days into his big-league career, the big fella appears ready to provide the lineup with some much-needed pop. Calm, confident and possessing a quick, compact swing, he looks the part of a professional hitter, with a baseline of “solid” and ceiling of “difference maker.”

But the Ryan Howard Experience ain’t over just yet.

At least not according to manager Pete Mackanin, who, while chit-chatting on sportstalk radio this morning, made sure to bring up that “Howie” still has to get his at-bats – less than 12 hours after Joseph laser-beamed his first major-league homer off the Citizens Bank Park left-field pole to highlight his 3-for-4 effort in a 3-1 Phillies win against Miami.

Not for nothing, but why?

The team, the city, the fans owe Howard absolutely zilch at this point. The tired, old arguments of him deserving this or that because of how much he’s given the club, because he wasn’t appreciated as much as he should have been earlier in his stint with the Phillies … well, they’re just that, tired and old. It’s time to move on from them. It’s been time for a while.

Howard hasn’t been a force since 2009, hasn’t been a threat since 2011 and hasn’t even been remotely worthy of the five-year, $125 million contract the moment he signed it back in April of 2010.

He is a liability in the field at first at this point, and an albatross to an entire organization that has screamed out for all to hear that it is moving forward with new, young guys while continuing, as Mackanin confirmed, to cater to the biggest, baddest symbol of its most recent successful past … which, frankly, ain’t so recent anymore.

Yes, Howard has eight homers and 17 RBIs in 109 at-bats this season. Not bad. Not bad at all. But he’s an all-or-nothing deal every time he steps into the box with a heavy lean toward “nothing” as evidenced by his .174 average – with just a .244 on-base percentage. The last time he cleared .230 batting for a season was 2013. The last time he cleared .300 on-base for a season was 2014.

Mackanin noted that he wants to navigate things whereby Joseph doesn’t have to sit much while Howard gets his time. How about Joseph not sit at all? Howard already has had his time, and it was great, and it was enjoyable, and it was long ago.

Now with Joseph here, the buffer of “well, we have no one to replace him” finally, mercifully, may fade to black. Not that it ever should have existed anyway.

Seriously, do we really know that Darin Ruf couldn’t do it?

Can’t claim to remember any guy given the yo-yo, no-chance scenario that guy received from the Phillies, whereby he’d go weeks on end between starts, if not appearances, then be expected to deliver like he was the everyday guy and crucified when he didn’t … off one at-bat.

That silliness has gone on since 2012.

If anything, the Phillies should have learned something from that.

Mackanin’s words, though, make it pretty clear they haven’t.

Not yet.

Howard hasn’t been a force since 2009, hasn’t been a threat since 2011 and hasn’t even been remotely worthy of the five-year, $125 million contract the moment he signed it back in April of 2010. He is a liability in the field at first at this point, and an albatross to an entire organization that has screamed out for all to hear that it is moving forward with new, young guys while continuing, as Mackanin confirmed, to cater to the biggest, baddest symbol of its most recent successful past … which, frankly, ain’t so recent anymore.