March 06, 2008
The Howell Window
Rays of Light notes the window of opportunity for J.P. Howell to reach the majors is closing fast.
As I said earlier, with David Price knocking on the door (perhaps as soon as this summer), and Jade McDavis soon to follow in the next year or two, Howell is going to become a forgotten man unless he makes his mark soon. He needs to stand out. He needs to win a spot on the Opening Day roster and start getting big league batters out. He needs to consistently look like the minor league pitcher that's made me want to see him given a starting spot. More importantly than anything else, though, he needs to make it for himself, because I can't imagine there will be too many teams interested in a soft-tossing hurler who the Royals gave up on for Joey Gathright and who the Rays gave up on in his mid-20s.
Howell has Tommy John tendencies, and those pitchers tend to be very dependent on their defense. With Bartlett making that defense much stronger, Howell should look better on the big league club than he did last year.
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Posted by David Pinto at
08:30 AM
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