Admit it, you gave up on Ryan Howard. After three consecutive unimpressive seasons following his torn Achilles in Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals, it looked as if the “Big Piece” had become more like a tiny, “misfit” piece.
Struggles over the past three seasons resulted in much criticism being heaped upon Howard by the Philadelphia media and fans. Much of the negative scrutiny had to do with the 5-year, $125 million contract extension he signed in April of 2010.
While the extension seemed like a good decision by the Phillies at the time, Howard has, for the most part, not been able to provide the same amount of production that he displayed from 2006-2011.