Much has been made recently about the Philadelphia Phillies inability to develop impact players, especially pitchers. Since 2006, only three notable pitchers have been developed by the Phillies and turned into above-average contributors in the majors; Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ and Aaron Nola.
General manager Matt Klentak and his staff hope that they have the prospect to change that narrative in Spencer Howard.
Keith Law of ESPN seems to believe that the Phillies have a special one in Howard, as evidenced by his analysis from the Arizona Fall League:
Spencer Howard (Phillies) missed several months this season because of a tired shoulder, but he has pitched at a high level since his return, and his AFL outing on Thursday was the best I’ve seen so far from my preseason No.