April 3, 200422 yr I thought his deserved a thread of its own. Check out this Bio of him: Ben Howard -- RHP -- Middle of the Rotation Starter: After four consecutive seasons in which he failed to live up to lofty expectations, Howard put it all together in 2001. In his second year at the high Class A level, the 6-2, 190-pound righthander was phenomenal for Lake Elsinore (8-2, 2.83 ERA) and finished the season with Class AA Mobile. Before he left Class A ball, however, Howard fanned a franchise-record 16 batters in one start -- he did not walk a single batter -- and was promoted to Mobile after losing just one of his final 10 starts in Class A. Howard, who went 2-0 in seven outings -- five starts -- for Mobile, finished a combined 10-2 on the year and ranked fourth in the system with a 2.73 ERA. After walking roughly a batter per inning over his first four seasons, Howard issued just 3.2 walks per nine innings last season. The 1997 second-round draft pick ironed out his mechanics in spring training and learned to control his off-speed stuff, which was essential to his success last season. Howard's fastball is among the best in the organization, topping out between 96-98 miles per hour. http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/padres/prospect.htm
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