Catching Up With: Spencer Howard

This article was originally intended to run in the April Threshers Times publication immediately following Phillies Spring Training 2020, the interview was conducted in early March.

Spencer Howard is regarded by many as the Phillies organization’s top pitching prospect. The California native was drafted in the second round of the 2017 draft out of Cal Poly San Louis Obispo.

The Threshers got a taste of Howard’s talent in 2019. During his time with Clearwater, the then 22-year-old put up a 1.29 ERA, a 0.69 WHIP, and tallied 48 strikeouts over 35 total innings of Florida State League play. The righty recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts in a game against the Florida Fire Frogs at Spectrum Field on April 23. Howard allowed no walks and scattered four hits in a span 5.2 innings that night. The Threshers would go on to win that game 1-0 behind Howard’s strong start and an RBI double from Nick Maton.

Shortly after his career night, Howard was put on the Injured List with shoulder injury. The starter was sidelined for nearly two months, missing a total of 57 games.

Howard did not miss a beat in his first start in his return from the IL on July 8, whirling a gem against the Palm Beach Cardinals with four innings of one-hit ball against the Palm Beach Cardinals. The performance earned the starter an MiLB Pitcher of the Week honor in the no-decision, which included seven strikeouts with no walks.

Howard continued to dominate the competition over his next two starts with a combined 11-scoreless frames, earning a promotion to Double-A Reading on July 26.

This offseason, The Cal Poly product spent his time in the Arizona Fall League – an offseason league where many of the top talents in the minor league baseball congregate to see elevated competition and hone their craft. Playing with the Scottsdale Scorpions, Howard was joined by a familiar face - Threshers pitching coach Brad Bergesen.

“I couldn’t have asked for anything better. He knows everything that makes me a better pitcher and when I get out of it, he brings me back to it,” Howard said.

“It was fantastic," Howard said of the AFL experience. “We just rolled through what I had been working on the past couple of years... and obviously facing a little bit better competition was really fun as well.”

Howard started six games for the Scorpions, posting a 2.11 ERA with 27 Ks in 21.1 innings. His .137 opponent average ranked him third amongst AFL starters.

The 6-foot-3 hurler shared that his focus during the fall was working on consistency. “That's kinda been my whole thing these past couple of years. Off-speed, change ups to righties, behind in the count, just basically everything that makes people good pitchers.”

Howard attended Philadelphia Phillies Spring Training as a Non-Roster Invitee and is spending his time in camp learning by example. “I think you can learn a lot by just watching people versus what they have to say,” Howard said. “It’s not an accident that big-leaguers are big-leaguers, so I think watching them and seeing how they prepare every day has helped me a lot.”

A minor setback occurred in mid-February in the form of a knee injury Howard suffered while doing some training exercises. Howard described the injury as a “rude awakening” but didn't let it stop his training or progress. “I took a step back and worked on mobility stuff rather than strength stuff, Howard said.

He made his spring training debut on March 10 in the eighth inning of a game against the Minnesota Twins. Howard got himself into some early trouble, allowing two base hits to put runners on first and second with only one out, but worked out of the jam with a flyout and a strikeout to end the inning.

As far as goals for the 2020 season, Howard prefers to focus on the here and now. “Get better every day – if you put too much pressure on yourself nothing is going to happen.”