Spencer Lee Howard (born July 28, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Philadelphia Phillies. Howard was born in San Luis Obispo and raised in Templeton, California. 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 received no scholarship offers to play college baseball, but made the Cal Poly Mustangs baseball team after a fall tryout. Howard was a redshirt during his freshman year, taking the season to build his strength and pitch velocity. He further improved his pitching during two seasons of collegiate summer baseball with the Bellingham Bells of the West Coast League, and by hi