The Phillies rotation received a boost when former top pitching prospect Spencer Howard was recalled from Triple-A last Saturday. The original plan was for Howard, who had recently just lost the prospect label, to serve primarily as a bullpen arm to control his innings in 2021. That had to be scraped a month into the season after it was clear that the team’s seven million dollar investment in back-end starters Matt Moore and Chase Anderson was a wash.
Howard dazzled his way through the first seven hitters in Boston’s order. He struck out five, allowed no hits and sat in the mid-90s with his fastball.