Howard was announced as part of the Phillies' 60-man player pool for the upcoming season.
The announcement comes as no surprise, as Howard has long been expected to play some sort of role for the Phillies this season despite not yet being part of the team's 40-man roster. He's yet to even reached the Triple-A level, so in an ordinary year he may not debut until a month or two into the season, but the Phillies may be forced to rush him with a 60-game schedule and no minor-league games. While the young righty is very inexperienced (he's only made 13 starts above Low-A) he could already be one of the team's five most talented starting pitchers, as his 2.03 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, 34.8 percent strikeout rate and 5.9 percent walk rate in 15 minor-league starts last season were all remarkable numbers.