Ryan Howard: What To Do?

1B Ryan Howard is clearly struggling at the plate and he has been struggling all season. With almost a quarter of the season complete, he has compiled a dismal line of .171/.280/.357 AVG/OBP/SLG, 7 HR, 19 RBI and a whopping 54 SOs in 140 ABs. Currently he is on pace for 100 H and 224 Ks on the season, which would be great if he was a starting pitcher. Unfortunately he is the Phillies #4 hitter and is currently a black hole when it comes to offense from the middle of the order. So what should Manager Charlie Manuel do about the situation?

Option #1: Bench Howard for a couple of games

Charlie already tried this but he can never seem to leave Howard on the bench. Each time he has given Howard the day off for "rest", he ends up pinch-hitting him in the later innings. Howard inevitably strikes out which further weakens his confidence.

Option #2: Move him down in the order

This option hasn't been tried yet and it is uncertain that it would work. Its also uncertain that there is anyone else to put in the #4 spot without completely screwing up the Phillies already weak offense. Utley prefers batting 3rd and Burrell is already in the midst of his own slump batting .185 in his last 7 games. Rollins and Victorino are naturally #1 and #2 respectively. Statistically there is nothing to suggest that moving Burrell up in the order would hurt anything. He has a .264 avg with 30 HRs/108 RBIs in 545 ABs over the past 3 season out of the 4 hole so he would be comfortable moving up a spot. Also, Howard's statistics are pretty much identical no matter where he's batting in the lineup so it probably wouldn't hurt to move him down a couple of spots until he finds his swing. However, Manuel likely won't do this because he believes in supporting his players and sticking with them through slumps.

Clearly, I support Option #2 as the Phillies are not about to bench Howard no matter how poorly he is batting. Moving him down will send a message that this type of performance is unacceptable while at the same time allowing him to bat in less pressure situations. It is much different batting in the #6 spot than the batting cleanup. Perhaps moving him down in the lineup will allow him to stay on pitches and stop him from trying to knock everything out of the park It can't hurt, but it seems that Manuel won't even consider it. Until he does the Phillies offense is gonna continue to stumble along and they will have to rely on an increasingly porous starting rotation and a bullpen that is starting to show early signs of overuse.