Pirates A to Z: Lefty Sam Howard struggled with injuries, still showed effective slider

During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z: An alphabetical player-by-player look at the 40-man roster, from outfielder Anthony Alford to pitcher Miguel Yajure.

Player: Sam Howard

Position: Pitcher

Throws: Left

Bats: Right

Age: 28

Height: 6-foot-4

Weight: 195 pounds

2021 MLB statistics: Howard was 3-4 with a 5.60 ERA in 45 innings over 54 appearances.

Contract: Not eligible for arbitration until 2023.

Acquired: Claimed off waivers from the Colorado Rockies in October 2019.

This past season: Howard started the season as the lone lefty in the Pirates’ bullpen, and finished it as their leader in strikeouts per nine innings (12.0). That he finished it as one of three lefty relievers was a sign of something amiss.

Howard averaged 6.4 walks per nine innings — trailing only rookie Luis Oviedo (7.9) — and was bothered by injuries.

Howard got off to a good start. Mixing his slider with a four-seam fastball and a changeup, Howard had a 1.80 ERA and a .121 batting average through the first 13 games of the season and had a 34 at-bat hitless streak against left-handed hitters. Howard warned that when he gets slider-heavy, his fastball command suffered. But his four-seamer sat at 94 mph and could be his most dangerous pitch.

Sam Howard, 95mph Fastball...and Pitching with ???? @njkanuch pic.twitter.com/QEVGjfzTji

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 11, 2021

One of his highlights came when he struck out All-Stars Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado back-to-back on May 19, a feat that was followed by an enthusiastic fist pump.

“The thing to take away from that is just trusting my stuff, mixing my pitches well,” Howard said. “Obviously, if you throw too many heaters, they can hit any heater, but just attacking, staying on the attacking, staying ahead, staying out of hitter’s counts and trust my stuff and going right at guys is what I got out of yesterday, you know, to be able to get Goldschmidt and Nolan, so that’s what I want to take from here moving forward and go at everybody.”

The 24 straight curveballs thrown by Lance McCullers in the 2017 ALCS are well-known, but here is a ridiculous sequence in which Sam Howard threw 11 consecutive sliders (highest in 2021) before savagely painting the outside corner with 93 for a punchout. pic.twitter.com/NsFBVlc9YX

— Steve Schuster (@growcasting) November 6, 2021

After his ERA jumped to 4.32 in May and 8.31 in June, when he allowed six runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning against Cleveland on June 20, the Pirates revealed that Howard had been bothered by tendinitis in his right knee and he was placed on the injured list.

“This is something that’s been acute on chronic throughout the season, and during his last outing he felt a little more symptoms than we all would have liked,” Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomcyzk said. “Diagnosed with right knee tendinitis. We do not envision this being long-term, for he has responded favorably to the initial treatments, and we anticipate him throwing off a slope in the coming days, and hopefully this will not be a long-term issue with Sam.”

A strained right oblique proved to be more problematic, as Howard was out for seven weeks. That opened the door for fellow lefties Chasen Shreve and Austin Davis, then Anthony Banda, who was claimed off waivers after Davis was dealt to Boston at the trade deadline.

When the starting rotation endured one injury after another, Howard ended up making his first major league start at the Philadelphia Phillies on Sept 24 by serving as the opener. Howard had one of his finest moments, striking out the side by throwing nine of his 12 pitches for strikes to get Odubel Herrera and Jean Segura swinging and All-Star Bryce Harper looking at a called third strike.

“With Sammy, he had the strong start, similar to the year prior,” Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin said. “He was battling some injuries for a little bit until he couldn’t battle them anymore. It’s one of those things that he went on the IL. A lot of these guys pitch through some stuff that they don’t really say (about) a lot of the times, and I think he was doing that a little bit. He had that little hiccup. He had rehab stints in Triple-A, and as he’s coming back, he’s kinda getting back to himself, and I think you’ve kind of seen that the last couple outings. But it’s taken him a little bit to get there. He knows exactly what he needs to do to get back. It was just unfortunate that he had to deal with that.”

The future: Where Howard looked like he was about to pitch himself out of a job, the injuries helped explain his ineffectiveness.

Howard tried to explain his inconsistency, talking in depth about the development of his mental approach to pitching.

“That’s what I’m still trying to build on: trusting my slider and not doing too much with it and letting it do what it does,” Howard said.

“From the first pitch when I come in, just being committed to what I want to throw, knowing before I toe the rubber what pitch I want. If the catcher gives it to me, we roll with it. If not, then wait until he puts it down, just knowing the count and the pitch I think is going to get the most swing and miss or the least damage in that count. Being committed instead of just following the catcher’s lead and throwing uncommitted.”

Since the season ended, Shreve elected free agency. That leaves Banda as the only other left-hander in the bullpen, though the Pirates left open the possibility that Steven Brault could be used in that role.

Howard needs a bounce-back season to show staying power, preferably one that is free of injury.