So the job seems to fall to Burrell. He simply must provide Howard better protection.
Yes, that would solve that problem.
Or not.
Is protection for Howard the most overblown concern about the Phillies this spring? Compared with Freddy Garcia's right biceps and a bullpen that has nobody in the Phillies' front office or coach's room particularly confident, yes.
"I do think it's overblown," manager Charlie Manuel said. "First of all, if [Howard] chases bad balls and gets himself out, that just shows he's overanxious and trying too hard. It's kind of natural. But at the same time, when he's feeling good and he's patient at the plate, he's getting good balls to hit. Then he'll hit homers. If he hits .300, he'll always have homers and always have production. If he does the same thing, if he stays within himself, he will always do that."
The importance of protection in a lineup is an interesting debate. Sabermetricians have studied it and have found no statistical evidence that a hitter's success affects the hitter in front of him.
In other words, Burrell could hit .258 with 29 homers and 95 RBIs like he did last season or .281 with 32 homers and 117 RBIs like he did in 2005, and Howard's numbers this season wouldn't be affected. As Burrell pointed out last month, Howard seemed all right last season with the protection behind him.
Manuel points out that Jim Thome hit 52 homers for the Cleveland Indians in 2002. Thome had a motley crew of Travis Fryman (.217, 11 homers, 55 RBIs), Karim Garcia (.299, 16, 52), Lee Stevens (.222, 5, 26), Milton Bradley (.249, 9, 38) and Russell Branyan (.205, 8, 17) hitting behind him.
Hardly Albert Pujols.
