Struggling at Triple-A, former MVP Ryan Howard released by Braves
The Braves' Ryan Howard experiment is officially over.
With the former National League MVP, three-time All-Star and producer of over 250 home runs from 2006-11 with the Phillies struggling at Triple-A Gwinnett, Atlanta cut ties with Howard on Monday.
The first baseman was hitting .184/.238/.501 in 11 games. He'd homered once, drove in five runs and walked twice with 11 strikeouts in 38 at-bats.
Howard, 37, had one hit in his five six trips to the plate.
Pegged as a potential source of power off the bench -- and insurance for Freddie Freeman, should the Braves centerpiece go down to injury -- Howard opened up to The Associated Press last week, saying of his comeback attempt:
"There’s more in the tank. If you walk away, don’t walk away with something still left in the tank. Then you're wondering like, 'Man, what could I have done?' When I’m done playing, I want to leave it all out on the field."
Coincidentally, with Howard struggling, a Philadelphia-based venture capital firm, SeventySix Capital, announced last week that he was coming on as a partner.
In a statement released by the firm, Howard said "Other than playing the game I love, my passion is investing in innovative companies and helping the entrepreneurs behind them succeed. While I continue to work towards another opportunity with the Majors, I'm excited to grow my partnership with SeventySix Capital."
While Howard hasn't been the same player since suffering an Achilles injury in Game 5 of the 2011 National League Division Series against the Cardinals, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound right-hander did put together a strong second half to 2016. He slashed .262/.324/.608 after the All-Star break, buoyed by an August in which he hit .314 with six home runs and two doubles in 51 at-bats.
That sample size and the help he could provide a bench that's short on power -- Atlanta's bench entered Monday's MLB schedule sitting 19th with a collective .595 OPS -- made it a no-lose proposition, especially considering that Philadelphia had bought out his $23 million option for this season at $10 million.
If Howard had shown signs of progress, this upcoming stretch seemed the most likely period for him to join the Braves. They face upcoming Interleague trips to Houston and Toronto where they could have utilized the righty as a designated hitter or additional piece of the bench.
Follow Cory McCartney on Twitter @coryjmccartney and Facebook. His books, 'Tales from the Atlanta Braves Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Braves Stories Ever Told,' and 'The Heisman Trophy: The Story of an American Icon and Its Winners.' are now available.
