He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, and Cleveland Guardians.
A multi-sport athlete at Templeton High School, he considered quitting the baseball team to focus on volleyball, but was persuaded to stay by the coach.
He further improved his pitching during two seasons of collegiate summer baseball with the Bellingham Bells of the West Coast League, and by his junior year in 2017, Howard served as a starting pitcher for the Mustangs.
The Phillies selected Howard in the second round of the 2017 MLB Draft, and he spent the season with the Low–A Williamsport Crosscutters, working on his pitching mechanics.
After working his way up to Double-A in 2019, Howard was one of several Phillies prospects who began the pandemic-shortened 2020 season at an alternate training site, preparing for a major-league call-up.
Since his major league debut, Howard has struggled with maintaining his pitch velocity into the later innings of a game, and in 2021, he was paired with long reliever Ranger Suárez for his scheduled starts.
Howard has struggled in the major leagues with maintaining his pitch velocity long into games, an issue that has been traced back to his shoulder injury from 2018.
After being persuaded by his coach to remain on the baseball team, Howard helped take Templeton to the Los Padres League championship as a junior in 2014.
During his senior season, Howard posted a 7–3 win–loss record, with a 2.20 earned run average (ERA), and he struck out 87 batters in 66+2⁄3 innings pitched.
[3] Having not received any scholarship offers to play college baseball, Howard chose to attend California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) and major in business.
[6] Playing as a redshirt freshman in 2016, Howard served as a relief pitcher for the Mustangs, where he posted a 3–1 record and a 2.95 ERA, striking out 39 batters in 36+2⁄3 innings.
[12] Howard spent the entire 2018 season with the Single–A Lakewood BlueClaws of the South Atlantic League, where he earned Pitcher of the Week honors twice.
[17] He missed two months of the season with shoulder soreness, returning to Clearwater on July 9, 2019, for four shutout innings against the Palm Beach Cardinals.
[11] He went 3–1 for the season, posting a 2.03 ERA and striking out 94 batters in 71 innings with Clearwater, Reading, and a pair of rehab appearances with the GCL Phillies.
[22] Several Phillies prospects, including Howard, began the pandemic-shortened season by practicing at an alternate training site in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
[24] His first career win came on August 31, when he pitched five innings of an 8–6 victory over the Washington Nationals, striking out sluggers Trea Turner and Juan Soto in the process.
[26] Howard pitched only 24+1⁄3 innings in his rookie season, and posted a 5.92 ERA, allowing 30 hits and six home runs while striking out 23 batters.
[27] Howard's limited performance in 2020 led to the offseason acquisitions of Matt Moore and Chase Anderson as back-of-the-rotation starters for the Phillies in 2021.
[28] Continued issues with Anderson's pitch control and inability to consistently record outs pushed the pitcher to the bullpen on May 21, with Howard called up to fill his place in the starting rotation.
[31] He was called back up for a July 22 start against the New York Yankees after Zach Eflin suffered a knee injury and Bailey Falter was placed on COVID-19 protocols.
[33] On July 30, 2021, the Phillies traded Howard, Kevin Gowdy, and Josh Gessner to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Kyle Gibson, Ian Kennedy, and Hans Crouse.
[34] The Rangers coaching staff hoped to transition Howard into a full-time major-league starting pitcher, in contrast to Philadelphia, where he had bounced between the major and minor leagues, as well as between the rotation and the bullpen.
[57] During the 2020–21 offseason, Howard pursued physical therapy to prevent a recurrence of the injury, while making changes to his pitching mechanics, particularly in his hips, that were aimed to limit the damage.