Phillies Notebook: With nagging foot injuries, Howard will rest until Thursday

THE BATTING order went up, Ryan Howard was sitting down. Which was no big whoop since once the Phillies clinched the division he'd been planning to have a cortisone shot to try to alleviate the bursitis he has been experiencing in his left ankle.

The twist here is that Charlie Manuel showed up at Citizens Bank Park before last night's nationally televised game against the Cardinals fully intending to start the National League RBI leader; the injection isn't scheduled until this morning.

The plan changed after the manager talked to Howard and found out that he hurt his right big toe in Saturday night's game.

"We're hoping it's not a big deal. I don't know what it was, if I jammed it or what," the first baseman said.

Howard hopes to be ready to play again by Thursday.

"I think I'll probably be down a couple days because it's such a tricky or sensitive area," he added.

Said Ruben Amaro Jr.: "The doctor is going to inject him in the bursa sac. We've got to calm it down. It's been bothering him." The general manager went on to say he doesn't expect after-season surgery to be required.

Howard made a joke when asked how long it would take him to get his swing back when he returns to the lineup.

"To get my true explosiveness back, it will probably take an entire offseason," he said with a laugh. "But for the playoffs, I think I'll probably be back by Thursday. That's realistic. They just want to give it time to settle in, see how it takes or whatnot and then try to come back then.

"You want to be out there and play, but at the same time, now the focus is more on October, being healthy for October."

Even though Howard was hobbled by a sprained ankle last season, Amaro is confident this won't become an ongoing issue.

"I think he's going to be fine," Amaro said. "I don't see the relationship between the ankle sprain last year and the bursitis. I don't see the connection. They've never mentioned that to me."

Ryan Howard and catcher Carols Ruiz were the only regulars who didn't start last night.

That was partly because Cole Hamels was starting and partly because Charlie Manuel was honoring the baseball tradition of fielding a competitive team against a club still in contention. St. Louis still has a shot at catching the Brewers in the NL Central and the Braves in the wild-card race.

"I think that's the way it should be. When we were trying to be the wild-card team when I first came over here I used to check the box scores and I saw some games and looked at the closers they were using and things like that and I used to laugh. I thought it was a joke. I thought that wasn't giving us a fair chance. I think it's respect for the game," Manuel said.

Charlie Manuel always warns against looking ahead. He preaches that the most important game is the one being played that night. He also likes to say that it doesn't matter who a team plays in the postseason, that to be a champion you have to be prepared to beat the best.

He makes one exception, though. Ever since the Phillies lost to the Yankees in the 2009 World Series, he's said he'd like another shot at the Bronx Bombers. And he's not backing away from that now.

"You see all those flags up there [representing 27 world championships]," he explained. "I'd like one up there that says 'Phils beat Yanks.' People look at the Yankees as a prestige team because they have won the most. Yeah, I'd like to play the Yankees."