Phillies place Ryan Howard on the DL

After the news came out that he was going back to Philadelphia to be evaluated, we knew this was coming: Ryan Howard has been placed on the disabled list. While the initial reports were that Howard's ankle sprain wouldn't keep him out for long, apparently it was severe enough to keep him out for at least 15 days.

John Mayberry has been called up to replace Howard on the roster. Mayberry is an outfielder so he won't likely be playing first base, meaning Ross Gload and Cody Ransom will likely platoon at first for the next two weeks.

Howard is just the latest in a long line of Phillies players who have spent time on the disabled list. It's amazing this team has even been able to stay in the race with most of their starting lineup having been out for weeks at a time.