GOODYEAR, Ariz. – Right after completing an ordinary bullpen session at the Cincinnati Reds minor league spring training, reliever Nick Howard smiles as he says, “Obviously, my history is a little complex and complicated.”
It’s been eight years since the Reds drafted Howard in the first round of the MLB Draft out of the University of Virginia. Since then, he pitched two “normal” seasons in the Minors, and he missed the entire 2017 season and half of 2018 with a shoulder injury. In 2019, the Reds released him, and he went nearly two full years without appearing in a Minor League game.