You wanted to see Spencer Howard go out and shove in his major league debut.

You wanted to see dominance, something to make you know, without question, that you aren’t going to be disappointed the same way you’ve been disappointed by the unfulfilled promise of prospects past. 

You wanted to see something that would make you forget about the revolving door of mediocrity occupying the better part of the Phillies’ starting rotation for nearly a decade.

You may not have seen an opening act from Howard on Sunday that left no doubt, but his uneven debut left plenty of reason for optimism.

The rest of his teammates, however, failed to inspire much reason for optimism during a doubleheader sweep in which they were beaten into submission by the Braves.


But let’s try to keep this positive.

So instead of focusing on the lineup limping to a combined 7-for-48 day (.146 batting average) as it generated a grand total of two runs over 14 innings – a lineup that was almost single-handedly outhit by Ronald Acuna (Phillies 7, Acuna 5) on Sunday – let’s dial in on Howard’s afternoon.

We can save the 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and 13 runners left on base for another day.

Howard, who topped out at 95 mph and averaged 93.5 mph with his four-seam fastball, showed plenty of promise throughout his four-plus innings of work, but he was also tagged for four earned runs and seven hits.

In particular, he had trouble with Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuna, who combined for five hits, including two homers and a triple.

Howard entered his first start on an altered schedule. He was expected to throw against the team’s satellite group on Wednesday, but that plan changed when the possibility of his weekend debut came into focus. Though he flashed big potential at times throughout his 81-pitch effort, it was clear he didn’t have his best stuff.

After the game, Phillies manager Joe Girardi suggested the disruption to his throwing schedule may have had an impact.

“The thing is that he hadn’t made a start in awhile. That probably didn’t help him,” Girardi said. “His turn was really on Wednesday, but because of some rainouts and things that happened, we pushed it back ’til Sunday. So that’s not the ideal situation. But again, I think he handled it pretty well.”

Though the 24-year-old made no excuses after the game, he agreed that he wasn’t at his best on Sunday.

“I wouldn’t say I felt sharp. Just a little out of sync with mechanics,” Howard said. “Left a lot of balls over the plate and mistakes get hit in the big leagues, so I’d say overall it was a decent day, but awesome to compete again.”

Howard shook off some early nerves to escape a first-inning jam, which included his first big league strikeout:

Girardi was impressed with Howard’s ability to navigate the emotional element of his debut.

“For his first start, I thought he did pretty good. He was able to throw strikes,” Girardi said. “The first two guys get on, and he’s able to not give up a run. And he didn’t fall apart, which sometimes it’s tough to slow a young person’s mind down when it’s their first start or even their first year, and I thought he handled it pretty well.”

Afterward, Howard was asked about the experience sans fans in the stands. While the scene certainly wasn’t what he imagined as recently as March, he did take notice of his surroundings.

“The cardboard cutouts actually made a difference, surprisingly,” Howard said. “Coming back from the summer camp when it was just the blue bleachers and then seeing the cardboard with the fan noises, it was O.K., actually.”

Maybe it wasn’t 45,000 enthusiastic fans, but I respect a guy who will take what he can get.

Moving forward, there’s reason for optimism about Howard’s ability to pitch at the top of the zone with an explosive four-seam fastball. On this day, however, Howard’s offspeed stuff was undoubtedly ahead of the fastball. He generated 11 swinging strikes with his offspeed stuff, but not a single one on any of his 42 fastballs.

Here’s a look at the full breakdown, per MLB Statcast:

 

spencer howard

From a practical standpoint, a look at this breakdown shows why his debut was accompanied by so much hype.

First, the slider, which finished off the final out he would record:

Howard believes that pitch, specifically, could build momentum heading into his next start, whenever that may be.

“Yeah, take your victories where you can get them, you know? That’s one of the high points of the day, for me, at least,” he said. “And so, to end on that kind of a good taste in my mouth, moving forward, that’ll be nice.”

Following an impressive 13-pitch, 1-2-3 second inning, Howard ran into some trouble in the third when he allowed a two-run homer to Freeman.

Howard rebounded with a clean fourth inning before Acuna added to the Braves’ lead in the fifth.

https://twitter.com/handlit33/status/1292584215427584000?s=20

Howard took the mistakes in stride.

“I mean, tip your hat, neither of them were perfect pitches,” he said. “And, yeah, I said earlier, mistakes are going to get capitalized up on in the big leagues, so just gotta tip my cap, I guess.”

His final line: 4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Again, it wasn’t all pretty. There was some good, some bad, but there was plenty to like from Howard after Sunday’s performance – even if there wasn’t much to like from the rest of his team.