Phils’ Mackanin sitting Howard to ‘clear his head’

6:14 PM ET

PHILADELPHIA — He’s batting .154, with 53 strikeouts and only 22 hits. He is coming off the worst calendar month in the modern history of his franchise. And now the Philadelphia Phillies are sending Ryan Howard to the bench, until at least this weekend and possibly longer.

Phillies manager Pete Mackanin announced Wednesday that he’d told Howard he would get the next “three or four days” off to “clear his head,” while rookie first baseman Tommy Joseph gets a chance to play. But the manager conceded that this could be the beginning of an even more extended opportunity to play for Joseph, a converted catcher who was batting .270, with three homers and an .816 OPS, in his first 13 games in the big leagues.

Asked what would happen if Joseph, 24, continues to hit, Mackanin replied: “Then I might have to extend it and have another talk with (Howard), and say I just can’t take him out of the lineup.”

Howard is earning $25 million in the final season of a five-year, $125-million contract, not including a $10-million buyout on a $23-million option for 2017. He just finished going 7 for 69 (.101) in May, with 28 strikeouts and 7 hits, in 75 plate appearances. It’s the lowest average in a calendar month by any Phillie who batted that often in the last 100 years, breaking the old record of .103, set by Chris James in May of 1989.

Mackanin said he called Howard into his office Wednesday afternoon …

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