Howard is out of Saturday's lineup against the Red Sox, Jim Salisbury of CSN Philadelphia reports.

EDGE Analysis

The Red Sox are starting left-hander Wade Miley, so Howard will sit like usual against southpaws while Darin Ruf occupies first base.

Howard is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Mets.

EDGE Analysis

Howard will be held out Tuesday with the Phillies employing a lineup full of right-handed hitters against Mets starter Jon Niese. Darin Ruf will start at first base for the Phillies on Tuesday night.

Howard went 1-for-3 with a home run and two RBI in the Phillies' 6-5 loss to the Mets on Tuesday.

EDGE Analysis

Howard has homered in back-to-back games for the Phillies. He is only starting against righties now, but that could lead to improvement in his batting average. He has hit .267 with 16 home runs and an .816 OPS against right handed pitching this season. He'll be in the starting lineup Wednesday, but will likely sit Thursday when the Phils face a lefty.

Howard went 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and two strikeouts in San Francisco on Saturday. Howard came in 5-for-10 lifetime against starter Ryan Vogelsong and delivered an RBI single in the first inning before adding a homer in the sixth. The home run gives Howard 15 on the season to go along with 90 strikeouts. Owners expected Howard to whiff a lot, but his 4.8 percent walk rate this year is puzzling considering he posted a 10.3 percent mark just a season ago. The two hits are an encouraging sign since Howard came into this game in a 4-for-40 slump, but the 35-year-old first baseman doesn't seem to be good for much more than the occasional long ball at this stage of his career.

Howard is back in the lineup Saturday and will bat cleanup. Howard was out of the lineup Friday with lefty Madison Bumgarner on the hill for the Giants, but he's back in the lineup Saturday. He'll face Ryan Vogelsong, against whom Howard is 5-for-10 with three RBI.

Howard is out of Friday's lineup against the Giants, Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News reports. Howard will receive his third day off in the past four, but it's not a big surprise that he'll take a seat Friday against the left-handed Madison Bumgarner. He'll probably continue as the primary first baseman for the Phillies, but his .218/.265/.433 batting line isn't very attractive.

Howard is out of the lineup Tuesday, MLB.com's Todd Zolecki reports. Howard has started seven of the last eight games, which is a pretty typical share of the action for him. He is hitting just .218, but is slugging .435, which is excellent power production relative to the rest of the Phillies' hitters. Darin Ruf will get the start at first base and hit fourth Tuesday.

Howard is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Braves. Howard will give way to Andres Blanco on Saturday as the Phillies face lefty Alex Wood. Coming into Saturday's game Howard had only compiled two hits in his previous five games, further supporting his lowly batting average of .221 after 75 appearances this season.

Howard is out of the lineup for the second game of Sunday's doubleheader with the Nationals. Both the Nationals and Phillies are resting several key regulars who were in the lineup for Game 1. After he went 0-for-3 with a walk and three strikeouts in the earlier contest, Howard will give way at first base to Darin Ruf for the nightcap.

Howard was 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in a losing cause against the Cardinals on Friday night. Howard has now gone yard in back-to-back games and has 13 long ones to go with 33 RBI on the season. Unfortunately for fantasy owners he has no speed and a weak .236 average while playing for a poor team. As the trade deadline approaches, the Phillies will assuredly try very hard to deal him, and if successful, it could rejuvenate his career to some extent. However, they may have difficulty generating interest in their aging slugger.