Spencer Howard was the No. 2 prospect in the Phillies' system coming into 2019, No. 52 on my overall top 100, and started out this year on the fast track to the majors after four dominant outings for high-A Clearwater. His shoulder started bothering him at that point and the Phillies gave him two months off, easing him back into Clearwater's rotation in early July, then promoting him to Double-A Reading after three more dominant starts for the Threshers. (He threw 35 innings for Clearwater, with 48 strikeouts, five walks and a 1.29 ERA.)
Wednesday night, Howard made his sixth start for Reading and went 95 pitches, his highest pitch count of the season, looking mostly like the guy I ranked second in their system.
