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Spencer Howard

Phillies Promote Spencer Howard, Place Matt Moore On 10-Day IL

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The Phillies have officially called up right-hander Spencer Howard to start tonight’s game against the Red Sox.  A roster spot was created when left-hander Matt Moore was placed on the 10-day IL due to a back injury, according to Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).  According to the Phillies, Moore is suffering from back spasms, and his placement is retroactive to May 21.

Howard began the season in Philadelphia’s bullpen, as the team intended to deploy him as a reliever in order to better manage his innings.  However, since Moore and Chase Anderson both struggled as the team’s fourth and fifth starters, the decision was made to stretch Howard out back into a starting role.

Manager Joe Girardi told reporters (including NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury) yesterday that Howard would be limited to roughly 55-60 pitches today.  It remains to be seen how long Howard’s stint in the rotation will last, or whether or not the Phillies will eventually use him as something of a “normal” starter, or whether they’ll continue to use him in these rather limited starts to get as much game action out of the young righty as possible.

Vince Velasquez’s health status will certainly be a factor, as Velasquez was a late scratch from his most recent start due to a finger numbness issue that has bothered him in the past.  Beyond the impressive top trio of Aaron Nola, Zach Eflin, and Zack Wheeler, Velasquez had been giving the Phillies some quality work as the fourth starter, so if he is able to stay healthy and Howard is able to pitch up to expectations, the Phils might suddenly have one of the more solid rotations in the game.  Of course, there isn’t much depth beyond those options, given how Anderson has been relegated to bullpen work and Moore will be out of action for at least the next 10 days.

Howard has a 6.28 ERA over 28 2/3 innings in his brief MLB career thus far, though the 2017 second-rounder is considered to be one of baseball’s better pitching prospects.  Injuries have slowed Howard’s progress (hence the innings limit), though he has performed well when healthy in the minor leagues.  Getting his first taste of Triple-A this year, Howard has allowed only a single run over nine innings, though he has issued five walks.

Pennsylvania Notes: Hayes, Goodwin, Howard, Realmuto

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The latest on the Keystone State’s two MLB teams…

  • Pirates GM Ben Cherington provided reporters (including Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) with an update on Ke’Bryan Hayes, saying that the third baseman hasn’t yet started to swing a bat, but is still “feeling improvement” in his bothersome wrist.  Hayes has been sidelined since the second game of the season and has already been dealt with one setback in his recovery process.  Cherington didn’t give a timetable on a potential return for Hayes, though he will be joining the Pirates on their upcoming road trip from May 3-9.
  • Brian Goodwin wasn’t on the list of names slated for the Pirates’ preliminary Triple-A roster, and Cherington told The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel that the team hopes to have the situation with Goodwin’s opt-out clause settled in a day or two.  Goodwin’s minor league deal with the Bucs contains an opt-out clause in May, and it remains to be seen if that opt-out date could be extended, or if Goodwin could leave the organization, or even if Goodwin could be called up to the Pittsburgh roster.  Gregory Polanco, Bryan Reynolds, and utilityman Phillip Evans comprise the team’s first-choice starting outfield mix, with utilityman Wilmer Difo and recent waiver claim Ka’ai Tom on the bench.  The veteran Goodwin would certainly represent a more experienced, outfield-only presence on the roster, and Goodwin can play all three positions.  As per the terms of the minor league deal, Goodwin would earn $1.6MM if he made Pittsburgh’s active roster.
  • The Phillies announced earlier this week that top pitching prospect Spencer Howard was going to be stretched out for a rotation spot, though president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski provided a bit more detail on Howard’s role to Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer and other reporters.  Howard might technically start a game, but “we’re talking about giving him two-, three-, maybe even a four-inning type of thing,” Dombrowski said.  “But we’re not talking about stretching him out to those number of innings where you consider him as a starting-starting pitcher, per se.”  Between Howard’s health history and the lost 2020 minor league season, the Phillies are being careful with their young hurler’s arm, targeting him for an unspecified innings limit in 2021.  The Phils initially aimed to use Howard as a reliever this season, but plans changed given the lack of production from the fourth and fifth spots in the team’s rotation.
  • J.T. Realmuto has been out of the Phillies’ starting lineup for two straight games due to a sore left hand.  The catcher suffered the injury while trying to block a wild pitch in Thursday’s game, with the ball hitting the heel of Realmuto’s hand.  It isn’t yet known how much more time Realmuto will miss, though it might not be too serious a situation, considering Rafael Marchan was optioned back to the alternate training site earlier today — Realmuto and Andrew Knapp are the only catchers on Philadelphia’s 26-man roster.

Phillies Plan To Move Spencer Howard Into Rotation

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The Phillies optioned righty Spencer Howard to their alternate site this week, but it’s not the demotion it might appear to be upon first glance. Rather, they’ll get him stretched out to work as a starter over the next few weeks with an eye toward adding him to the rotation next month, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

It’s a quick change in direction for a Phillies club that had previously planned to keep Howard, the organization’s top pitching prospect, in a bullpen role for the 2021 season. President of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski plainly said as much prior to the season, but as Breen highlights, the team’s fourth and fifth spots in the rotation have yielded dreadful results.

Lefty Matt Moore, signed to a one-year deal on the back of a solid showing in Japan last year, has yet to give the Phillies a competitive start. He’s been tagged for a dozen earned runs on 17 hits with an ugly 12-to-9 K/BB ratio through 11 innings of work. Righty Chase Anderson was mostly solid during his first three starts, yielding two runs apiece, but those starts lasted just five, four and four innings, respectively. He was clobbered for six runs in 3 2/3 innings in his most recent turn (albeit at Coors Field). Vince Velasquez has made only one start, lasting four innings, and hasn’t fared especially well in relief.

Fortunately for the Phillies, the top three starters in their rotation have each been excellent. Ace Aaron Nola is sitting on a 2.84 ERA through 31 2/3 innings and recently hurled a shutout in which he punched out 10 Cardinals. Zack Wheeler’s strikeouts are back after a 2020 hiatus, and he’s sporting a 3.13 ERA through an identical 31 2/3 inning workload. Zach Eflin leads Philadelphia starters with a 2.77 ERA and a brilliant 19-to-2 K/BB ratio in 26 innings.

Ideally, Howard will get stretched out and turn that strong trio into a formidable quartet. The 2017 second-rounder has ranked among the game’s Top 50 prospects for the past two seasons, according to each of Baseball America, FanGraphs and MLB.com. He hasn’t exactly thrived in the Majors to this point (6.28 ERA, 4.44 SIERA), but he’s only tallied 28 1/3 MLB innings and is still just 24 years of age. We don’t have 2020 minor league numbers to look at for obvious reasons, but back in ’19, Howard tallied 71 innings across four levels and logged a combined 2.03 ERA with a brilliant 34.8 percent strikeout rate and a tiny 5.9 percent walk rate.

Of course, the Phillies’ initial reason for wanting to use Howard in the ’pen was to limit his 2021 workload after he battled shoulder troubles in both 2019 and 2020. He’s not going to be plugged into the rotation and given the go-ahead to toss six or seven innings every fifth day through season’s end. Breen suggests the righty could be tasked with working the first four or perhaps five innings of a game every fifth day. Perhaps both he and Anderson — if Anderson can continue working in mostly solid four- or five-inning blocks — could then round out the starting staff, with the Phils leaning more heavily on the ’pen on those days.

The Phillies have one of the game’s bottom 10 farm systems by most rankings (including BA and MLB.com), so it’s not a huge surprise that they’re lacking in upper-level alternatives to plug into the rotation. Left-hander Bailey Falter and righty Adonis Medina give them a pair of candidates, and both have already very briefly cracked the big leagues.

The Phils will surely have some other internal arms pop up, and they have some depth pieces like Bryan Mitchell and Enyel De Los Santos slated to begin the year in Triple-A. They were also among the teams to watch Anibal Sanchez’s workout last Friday. Still, if they continue to hover around .500 and remain in the playoff hunt, it’s easy to envision Dombrowski hitting the summer trade market in search of some arms to augment his starting staff.

Phillies Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Phillies announced Wednesday that they’ve placed infielder Jean Segura on the 10-day injured list due to a strained right quadriceps and optioned righty Ramon Rosso to their alternate site in Lehigh Valley. In their place, the Phillies have recalled infielder/outfielder Scott Kingery and right-hander Spencer Howard.

The loss of Segura even for a brief period — the team has yet to provide a timeline — stings for the Phillies. The 31-year-old is out to an excellent start this season, slashing .333/.359/.450 with a homer, four doubles and a stolen base in his first 64 trips to the plate. The Phillies have bounced him around the diamond the past couple of seasons, but he’s been their everyday second baseman early in the 2021 campaign.

Second base duties will now likely fall to Kingery and utilityman Brad Miller. Kingery is looking for a rebound after a disastrous 2020 season that began with a three-week stint on the Covid-19 injured list. Kingery didn’t have any real ramp-up period to the shortened season, and the .159/.228/.283 slash he posted in 124 plate appearances was miles away from the solid .258/.315/.474 slash he logged through 458 trips to the plate in 2019. He also spent time on the IL with back spasms last season.

The hope was that a full, healthy Spring Training would get Kingery back to his 2020 form, but Kingery struggled mightily in Grapefruit League play. Through 15 games and 49 plate appearances, he cobbled together just a .159/.229/.295 slash that looked eerily similar to last year’s woeful showing. The Phils optioned him to their alternate site near the end of camp, and this will be his first chance at a rebound.

Howard, like Kingery, has long been regarded not only as one of the organization’s best prospects, but one of the best in the league. The 24-year-old struggled through 24 1/3 innings last year during his MLB debut effort and has logged just one inning thus far in 2021. While Howard has been a starter throughout his minor league career, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski indicated at the end of Spring Training that the plan for the 2021 season was to use Howard primarily out of the bullpen.

NL East Notes: Mets, Conforto, Phillies, Marlins

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With the Mets still engaged in extension talks with Francisco Lindor, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo tweets that the team is waiting to resolve things with Lindor before continuing negotiations with their other major extension candidate, Michael Conforto.  Lindor has made it clear that he wants to reach a new deal by Opening Day, whereas Conforto and agent Scott Boras have each expressed a bit more flexibility to talk during the season, though Conforto has said he would “ideally” prefer to also have a potential new contract finalized before games get underway.

More from the NL East…

  • The Phillies announced this afternoon they’ve reassigned outfielder Odúbel Herrera to the alternate training site. Adam Haseley has made the Opening Day roster. Herrera and Haseley were among the group competing for the Phils’ center field job. The latter was set back by an early-March groin strain but has apparently made a quick enough recovery to be ready for Thursday’s season opener.
  • In other Phillies news, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters (including Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer) that top prospect Spencer Howard will work primarily out of the bullpen in 2021. It’s not a permanent switch, as Dombrowski stressed the organization sees Howard as a starting pitcher long-term. The Phils are being particularly cautious in monitoring the young righty’s innings after he worked just 71 minor-league frames in 2019 and was limited to 24.1 MLB innings during last year’s shortened season.
  • The Marlins have sold the naming rights to their ballpark, Danilo J. Santos of the Fish Stripes blog reported (Twitter link).  Mortgage company loanDepot purchased the rights, and thus the former Marlins Park will now be known as loanDepot Park, according to Fox Sports 640’s Andy Slater (via Twitter).  Terms of the multi-year contract haven’t been announced, though as the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson notes, the news concludes the Marlins’ long search for a naming-rights partner that has been ongoing since the stadium opened in 2012.

Phillies Health Notes: Didi, Eflin, Howard

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A few Phillies health updates, courtesy of Matt Gelb of The Athletic:

  • Shortstop Didi Gregorius left Tuesday’s game after taking an 89 mph fastball off the back of the head from Blue Jays right-hander Tanner Roark. Manager Joe Girardi said at the time that Gregorius was dealing with“a minor, minor headache” (via Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia), but he then told Gelb and other reporters that the Phillies will re-evaluate him on Friday. Going without Gregorius for any period of regular-season time would be a shot to the Phillies’ offense, as he batted .284/.339/.488 with 10 home runs in 237 appearances and appeared in all 60 of their games last year. That performance persuaded the Phillies to re-sign Gregorius to a two-year, $28MM guarantee in free agency.
  • Right-hander Zach Eflin will not pitch this week because of a back injury that the Phillies are somewhat concerned about, Girardi said. Just as Gregorius is a key cog in Philadelphia’s offense, Eflin is an integral part of its rotation. The top complement to the one-two punch of Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler, Eflin is looking to build on a career year in which he logged personal-best numbers in several categories. Eflin finished 2020 with a 3.97 ERA/3.50 FIP, excellent strikeout and walk percentages (28.6 and 6.1, respectively), and a strong 47.4 percent groundball rate over 59 innings. If Eflin isn’t ready for the start of the season, it could open the door for Vince Velasquez to claim the open spot in the Phillies’ rotation, Gelb notes.
  • In yet another unwelcome bit of news for Philly’s staff, righty Spencer Howard still hasn’t been cleared to throw after going down with back spasms earlier this week. The 24-year-old had been in line to compete for a spot in the club’s rotation, but that appears to be out the window for the time being. Howard, whom Baseball America ranked as the game’s 27th-best prospect in 2020, made a rocky debut last year with six starts and 24 1/3 frames of 5.92 ERA ball (with a more encouraging 4.87 SIERA). However, he did dominate the High-A and Double-A levels in 2019.

East Notes: Yankees, Phillies, Rays

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The latest from the majors’ East divisions…

  • Yankees left-handed reliever Zack Britton’s arthroscopic elbow surgery on Monday went according to plan, manager Aaron Boone announced to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com and other reporters. Boone didn’t provide a timeline for when Britton could return, but it was initially reported that the Yankees might go three to four months without their integral setup man. Meanwhile, third baseman Miguel Andujar has “a muscle strain” in his right hand/wrist and “a bit of a nerve issue,” Marly Rivera of ESPN tweets. Again, though, there’s no official word on how long Andujar will have to sit out.
  • Phillies righty Spencer Howard didn’t make his scheduled outing Monday on account of back spasms, per manager Joe Girardi (via Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer). While the severity of the issue is unknown, it may make it even less likely for Howard to win a season-opening spot on the Phillies’ roster. Howard could eventually emerge as part of the solution in the Phillies’ rotation, but he only managed a 5.92 ERA/4.87 SIERA during his 24 1/3-inning major league debut last season.
  • Sticking with the Phillies, infielder/outfielder Brad Miller is dealing with an oblique strain, Matt Gelb of The Athletic relays. Girardi said the Phillies will re-evaluate Miller in five to six days, but the club has not ruled him out for Opening Day. Miller, who previously played with the Phillies in 2019, reunited with the team on a one-year, $3.5MM guarantee in the offseason. He earned that payday after slashing .232/.357/.451 with seven home runs in 171 plate appearances a Cardinal a season ago.
  • Rays outfielder Brett Phillips will miss three to four weeks with a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Phillips suffered the injury Sunday, and it now appears the 2020 playoff hero will sit out until at least the middle of April. However, the Rays still have Kevin Kiermaier, Randy Arozarena, Austin Meadows, Manuel Margot and Yoshi Tsutsugo available in the outfield.

NL Notes: Jeffress, Nationals, Varsho, Howard

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The Nationals’ release of Jeremy Jeffress yesterday carried some mystery, both because it came so early in Spring Training (and within three weeks of Jeffress signing with the Nats) and because GM Mike Rizzo used the odd phrasing of describing the release as due to “personnel reasons.”  Rizzo didn’t provide much further clarification in speaking with Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com and other reporters today, apart from saying that Jeffress’ release was “an employment issue” and not related to on-field performance.

Jeffress himself has weighed in, texting Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post to say that the Nationals’ given reason for releasing him was “not true,” without specifying what the club said.  The veteran reliever also wrote a pair of tweets yesterday, one stating “I’m not what they say I am, I’m what God says! I don’t deserve this false negativity!” and another since-deleted tweet saying that his former agent “jus ruined my life.”  It remains to be seen if the reason behind Jeffress’ release will ever fully come to light, but if nothing else, this uncertain situation would seem to hamper Jeffress’ chances of catching on with another team.

More from the National League…

  • “Catcher/center fielder” isn’t exactly a common defensive skillset, and while Daulton Varsho saw more time in the outfield than he did behind the plate in his rookie season, the Diamondbacks are clear about their top prospect’s future role.  “We see him as a catcher who can play other positions, not as a center fielder who can catch,” Arizona assistant general manager Amiel Sawdaye told The Athletic’s Zach Buchanan.  Varsho is happy to play wherever, and the outfield might be his clearest path to more MLB playing time in 2021, considering the D’Backs have Carson Kelly and Stephen Vogt as their regular catching duo.  The team doesn’t want to take too much time away from Varsho’s development as a catcher, however, given the amount of specialized work that goes into learning the position at the big-league level.
  • The Phillies also face a question about how to deploy a top prospect, as Spencer Howard has never thrown more than 112 innings in any of his four pro seasons.  As Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes, the Phils could start Howard in the minors since rotation space could be hard to find, or they could manage his innings throughout the season in a relief role on the MLB roster.  The latter option would leave the door open to Howard eventually making some starts in 2021, though it would require the Phillies to also keep Howard stretched out in something of a swingman role so he could more easily shift into working as a starting pitcher.  A second-round pick for the Phillies in the 2017 draft, Howard’s minor league climb was slowed by some shoulder problems in 2019, and he has yet to pitch at Triple-A ball.  Philadelphia promoted Howard to the majors last summer after watching him at the alternate training site, and Howard posted a 5.92 ERA over 24 1/3 innings and six starts.

Phillies Place Spencer Howard On Injured List

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SEPTEMBER 13: The Phillies are placing Howard on the 10-day injured list, the club announced. Reliever Connor Brogdon is up from the alternate site to replace Howard on the active roster. Additionally, right-hander Ramón Rosso has been added to the roster as the 29th man for today’s doubleheader against the Marlins. He’ll get the start in the first game of the twin bill.

SEPTEMBER 12: Phillies right-hander Spencer Howard left tonight’s game in the fourth inning due to stiffness in his throwing shoulder, the team announced.  Howard had just allowed a three-run homer to the Marlins’ Brian Anderson before being visited on the mound by manager Joe Girardi and a team trainer before departing the game.

Any sort of arm problem for a pitcher obviously isn’t good news, and a shoulder issue is of particular concern in Howard’s case — as The Athletic’s Meghan Montemurro pointed out, a similar injury caused Howard to miss two months of the 2019 season.  If the problem here is truly just stiffness or discomfort, it’s possible Howard could be back after just a missed start or perhaps an extra day or two of rest, but naturally the Phillies will be as cautious as possible in making sure the star prospect is healthy.

Saturday’s abbreviated outing has been indicative of Howard’s struggles over his first taste of the majors, as the righty took a 5.66 ERA into tonight’s start against Miami.  Howard had a 2.25 K/BB rate and 7.8 K/9 over his first 20 2/3 innings, with his BABIP (.343) and xwOBA (.334, compared to a .380 wOBA) indicating at least some bad luck.  Anderson’s home run tonight, however, was already the sixth long ball surrendered by Howard this season, and he has been hit hard in his second or third times through opposing lineups.

Howard’s prospect pedigree notwithstanding, it isn’t unexpected that a 24-year-old rookie who had never pitched above Double-A ball would have some struggles in his first MLB season.  If Howard has to miss time, however, it leaves the Phillies short an arm in the midst of a stretch of 18 games in 14 days.  Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler have been carrying an otherwise shaky Philadelphia rotation, though Wheeler may be questionable to make his next start due to a nasty fingernail injury.

Phillies Promote Spencer Howard

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August 9: Howard has officially been promoted to the Phils’ active roster. His addition comes with a couple of corresponding roster moves, as reported by Todd Zolecki of MLB.com: RHP Enyel De Los Santos was designated for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, and left-hander Cole Irvin was optioned off the active roster to the team’s alternate training location.

August 8: Phillies pitching prospect Spencer Howard is set to make his Major League debut on Sunday.  According to Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Howard has been told that he will be starting one of tomorrow’s games in the Phils’ doubleheader with the Braves.  Another transaction will need to be made in order to open room for the right-hander on the 40-man roster.

Howard, a second-round pick in the 2017 draft, has looked impressive in his brief pro career, posting a 3.28 ERA, 3.80 K/BB rate, and 12.0 K/9 over 211 1/3 minor league innings.  None of those innings have come at Triple-A, and Howard only tossed 30 2/3 frames at Double-A last season, due in part to some shoulder problems that limited his overall workload to 71 total innings in 2019.

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Nevertheless, there was speculation dating back to Spring Training that Howard would eventually suit up for the Phillies in 2020, even if the club was looking to manage his innings so as to not over-extend his arm.  As per Lauber back in March, the shortened nature of the 2020 season will help Howard in this regard, as he could now end up pitching quite a significant portion of the schedule for a team in need of pitching depth.  Due to the week of postponed games in the wake of their exposure to the Marlins’ COVID-19 outbreak, the Phillies have only played seven games, and Sunday is the first of six doubleheaders remaining on Philadelphia’s schedule.

While Howard’s lack of Triple-A experience provides a reasonable case for the Phillies in holding off on his big league promotion, it should also be noted that waiting until a couple of weeks into the season ensures the Phils an extra year of control over Howard before he gains enough service time for free agency.

Howard is a consensus choice as one of baseball’s top pitching prospects, with Keith Law, Fangraphs, Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and Baseball Prospectus all ranking him between 22nd (from Law) and 36th (BP) on their preseason lists of the sport’s best minor leaguers.  A fastball that regularly sits in the mid-90’s and has gone as high as 99mph is Howard’s signature pitch, and he also has what Fangraphs describes as “three nasty secondary pitches” in a curveball, changeup, and slider, though all of these offerings are less consistent.  Howard’s control is also solid, as Baseball America’s notes that his “delivery is simple and repeatable.”

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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