San Francisco Giants Reliever Shines In Spot Start Against Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas — Spencer Howard got the start for the San Francisco Giants on Saturday against the Texas Rangers. To say he did their beleaguered rotation a solid would be an understatement.

Howard made his first start at the Major League level in two years when the Giants slid him into the rotation between Logan Webb on Friday and Keaton Winn on Sunday, the latter of whom will be activated on Sunday.

To make it more ironic for the 27-year-old California native, he was making that start against his former team. He pitched for the Rangers from 2021-23, before which he was a top prospect for the Philadelphia Phillies and starter from 2020-21.

Howard had a shaky start in the first inning, giving up back-to-back walks to Marcus Semien and Josh Smith, but he fought through it to only give up one run, which came on Nathaniel Lowe’s sacrifice fly to right field, which scored Semien.

From there, the right-hander was excellent.

He scattered three hits, induced a double play grounder to end the third and retired six of the final seven batters he faced before manager Bob Melvin brought in reliever Erik Miller.

Howard threw 74 pitches in 4.2 inning, 53 of which were strikes. He walked three, struck out two and left with a 3-1 lead. Miller ended up taking the victory as San Francisco won, 3-1.

He was solid in two relief outings with the Giants since he was called up on May 28. Howard had a 2.08 ERA in 8.2 innings, giving up nine hits. He struck out seven and walked none. He last pitched on Tuesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Nothing in his body of work this season at Triple-A Sacramento suggested he would be this good for San Francisco. With the River Cats, he had a 1-2 record with a 5.90 ERA in 10 games. He struck out 35 and walked eight.

In fact, nothing in his career suggested it, either.

The former second-round pick of the Phillies went 1-2 with a 5.92 ERA in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season when he made his debut. He made 11 starts with them in 2021, going 0-2 with a 5.72 ERA before he was traded to the Rangers.

With Texas in 2022 he went 2-4 with a 7.41 ERA in 10 games (eight starts). In 2023 Howard began the season hurt and was ultimately traded by the Rangers in late July after giving up four earned runs in 3.1 innings.

The New York Yankees acquired Howard but he lasted a month at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before his release. The Giants picked him up in late September and stashed him in the minors.