Both Howard and Vince Velasquez are preparing to start Friday against the Mets, Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
The pitchers both started one half of Sunday's doubleheader against the Braves, so both will be on schedule to start Friday. The team has yet to announce who will start the game, though it's quite possible the pair is used in a piggyback role. The Phillies lost a week of games early in the season due to their potential exposure to the Marlins' coronavirus outbreak, so they're expected to have quite a few doubleheaders over the course of the season, meaning they'll frequently need six starters. Piggybacking the pair would keep both stretched out for when a six-man rotation is needed, such as next week, when the Phillies play a doubleheader against the Blue Jays on Aug. 20.