Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, who had surgery in October to repair a ruptured left Achilles, has been cleared to begin exercising. He will also start jogging underwater and is likely to begin baseball activities within six weeks. Howard will start by fielding ground balls before progressing to hitting. Is there any chance Howard could be ready by Opening Day? "I can't even speculate," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "All I know is that it's nice to know that at some point in Spring Training, that he'll start doing some light baseball activities. I think it is good news."