out to the second baseman, Nick Punto. His injury required surgery and as a result, he missed the start of the 2012 season. 2012 Howard began the 2012 season on the 15-Day DL. He said in a podcast in early June that his Achilles tendon injury is "progressing at a positive pace". On July 6, 2012, Howard was activated for his first game of the 2012 season, in which he went 2-for-4 with a double in a 5–0 Phillies loss. Howard hit his 300th career home run on September 22; his season ended one week later on September 29 after suffering a small fracture in his big right toe. He finished the 2012 season with a .219 batting average, 14 home runs, and 56 RBI in 71 games. 2013 On July 8, 2013, Howard went on the disabled list, missing 6–8 weeks with a torn left meniscus. He underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair the tear and did not play for the remainder of the season. He was hitting .266, with 11 home runs and 43 RBI, at the time of his injury. 2014 Howard entered the 2014 season feeling rejuvenated, and looking to utilize the whole field, rather than exclusively pull the ball, as he had done in recent years. After reaching base in his first three at bats on opening day, Howard batted in the fifth position in the Phillies' second game during which they faced a left-handed pitcher; it ended a streak of 665 starts for Howard in which he batted in the fourth position. On May 31, Howard hit a three-run home run for the 1,000th RBI of his career in an eventual loss to the New York Mets. Howard became the fastest player in MLB history to 1,000 RBI, accomplishing the feat in only 1,230 games. In 153 games of the 2014 year, Howard struck out an MLB-leading 190 times while batting .223 with 23 home runs and 95 RBI. 2015 In 2015, Howard batted .229, and his 23 home runs, 77 RBI and 138 strikeouts led the last-place Phillies, even though he missed the last three weeks of the season due to a left knee injury. He had the lowest batting average against left-handers among all MLB hitters (60 or more plate appearances), at .130. 2016 Howard began the 2016 season with a protracted slump; by late May, with his batting average at .161 after