Phils trainer updates Howards condition

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CLEARWATER, Fla.Phillies slugger Ryan Howard will have an open wound on the back of his left ankle examined in Baltimore on Monday.

He has an open wound that isnt healing the way we want it to, Scott Sheridan, the teams head athletic trainer, said Sunday at Phillies camp. It needs to be evaluated.

Phillies officials have insisted that the condition is not serious and Howard was due for a checkup by surgeon Mark Myerson anyway. Myerson repaired Howards ruptured Achilles tendon 4months ago.

We wanted Ryan to go back and see Mark, Sheridan said. This is a little adjunct to the scheduled appointment, something else to be seen.

Sheridan said the open wound was a delayed reaction to a suture that was used in the surgery. He added that the skin in the Achilles area was notorious for not healing well.

The good news on Howard is that the repair job on his Achilles appears to be holding up just fine. He has been on the field, hitting and fielding ground balls. Myerson could clear the first baseman to increase the intensity of his workouts once the skin over the Achilles heals.

Hes been doing great, Sheridan said. Hes been on the field doing the things we expected him to be doing at this point. Hopefully we can keep it going in the right direction.

Sheridan said he would wait for Myersons input before he decided what the next step in Howards recovery would be.

Howard tore his Achilles on the final swing of the 2011 season. Team officials hope he is ready to play sometime in April, but there is no official timetable for his return. Sheridan offered some insights on the hurdles that Howard must clear before he is ready for game action.

Running and cutting, Sheridan said. Basically he has to be able to re-enact what happened. Starting, stopping, turning. Those are the biggest challenges.

Note
Pitcher Cliff Lee, slowed by an abdominal strain early in camp, threw what appeared to be a smooth bullpen session Sunday morning and left the mound with a smile.

E-mail Jim Salisbury at jsalisbury@comcastsportsnet.com

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