Todd Zolecki has an article up on phillies.com highlighting Ryan Howard’s leaner build and encouraging spring thus far:

Howard is hitting .267 (4-for-14) with three homers and seven RBIs this spring.

“Howard is following the ball good right now,” Manuel said. “He’s taking some pitches and he’s getting good balls to hit. He’s staying in the middle of the field, and of course, he’s hitting some balls out to left field. That’s a good sign.”

Howard is a notoriously slow starter in the regular season, a .230 hitter in April compared to his .279 overall career average, but he appears relaxed at the plate in the early going of the Grapefruit League schedule.

Good stuff, right?

Well, maybe. Howard started the 2008 spring training in good shape also, based on some deep digging on Beerleaguer around the same point last year:

The big man has connected for seven hits in 16 at bats (.438) and tallied 13 total bases – with just three strikeouts.

According to Zolecki, Howard doesn’t attribute his cool approach to his new 3 year, $54 million contract. But I definitely wonder to what extent Howard has been able to leave his contract status at the locker room door and focus fully on getting more athletic, more competent at first and better prepared to start the season on a positive note.

How can Howard not be in a better place mentally after he signed his deal? I certainly don’t expect him to admit it to the media, but the guy is not a machine. The pressure to play on a year to year contract has to weigh on a player’s psyche, and when that uncertainty is removed, it has to help.

Unless you’re Pat Burrell, who signed a 5 year, $60 million deal after a great 2002 season, and then had an atrocious 2003 campaign.

Which means, of course, that Ryan Howard’s April 2009 performance is anyone’s guess.