Phillies trade Spencer Howard for 3 pitchers from Rangers

The Phillies have acquired veteran starting pitcher Kyle Gibson, reliever Ian Kennedy, and minor-league left-hander Hans Crouse from the Texas Rangers.

The Phils are sending Spencer Howard, Kevin Gowdy, Josh Gessner, and $4 million to the Rangers.

Gibson, 33, has spent nine seasons in the American League — seven with the Minnesota Twins and the last two with the Rangers. He is 6-3 with a 2.87 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 19 starts and made the All-Star team. He is under contract for $7 million next season in the final year of a three-year, $28 million contract.

Kennedy, who once won 21 games with the Arizona Diamondbacks, had 16 saves and a 2.51 ERA for the Rangers this season. He had 30 saves for the Kansas City Royals in 2019. He is a free agent after this season.

Crouse is a 22-year-old drafted by the Rangers in the second round, 21 picks after Howard in 2017. He has a 3.35 ERA in 13 starts at Double-A Frisco.

On to Howard.

Howard has been a dominant pitcher in the minors, posting a 1.85 ERA and a 34.7% strikeout rate in 30 starts across the last four years. He hasn’t come close to replicating that thus far in the majors, with his strikeout rate dropping to 22.5% and his ERA spiking to 5.81, though that comes in a small sample of just 52.2 innings.

He hasn’t made it past the fourth inning this season. He’s only made it to the fifth inning once in his MLB career.