Ryan Howard has left Phillies spring training to be examined by the doctor who performed his surgery over the winter after experiencing what Charlie Manuel called a "little setback." However, Phillies athletic trainer Scott Sheridan met the media this afternoon and disagreed with that characterization. He explained exactly what Howard will have looked at.
"The last couple days he developed what we think is a delayed reaction to his sutures," said Sheridan. "He's going to be traveling to Baltimore where he's going to see [Dr. Mark Myerson] tomorrow. Mark is going to evaluate him and then we'll determine what his treatment plan is from there."
Sheridan stressed that this wasn't a "setback."
"He did not have a setback. We just need to have this one area evaluated. It's just something that happens as part of the rehab process. The achilles tendon is notorious for not healing well, the skin over top of it. Sometimes these things happen, that's why when you look at setting time frames you never say somebody's head or behind schedule until he's on the field."
Sheridan says that he's happy with Howard's progress so far.
"Ryan has been doing great. He's been on the field doing the things we expect of him at this point and we just hope things keep going in the right direction."
The team expects Howard to return to Clearwater on Wednesday.